Twist in Time
by KaUiA
Summary: Years ago, a boy saved Lucy from herself. Separated, there was a promise left to fulfill. Years later, Lucy, now a mage of fairy tail continues to search for him unaware that if they ever met, the peace she had known would be destroyed.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own fairy tail.

**Author's notes:** Set in AU. I really want to write with a different Natsu, different from the usual cute heroic Natsu. He will be ooc, so will Lucy because of the story's nature. This is a what-if story where Lucy and Natsu met when they were young. Instead of Natsu in Fairy tail, he's in phantom lord. Gajeel will be in Fairy tail instead along all other current fairy tail members with the exception of Natsu.

**Summary: **A little fire dragon slayer saved Lucy from herself years ago when she was lost. Wanting to fulfill a promise, Lucy, years later known as a mage of fairy tail, endlessly searches for him, believing that they would meet. When they meet, the peace she had known was destroyed.

* * *

There was nothing but a young blonde child clutching her body, curled, as if trying to hide her own existence from the world. She was muddy and dirty, with light bites and scratches all over her arms and legs. Her feet were bare, with a combination of red and dark brown from the mud, and red from the wounds she got running barefooted. She was shaking all over, her eyes wide from shock. Tears occasionally leaked, her mouth chattering from the cold but also what brought her in this situation.

It was so painful. It was so tiring. She was so cold. She was wet, hurt, and hungry.

Wolves circled around her, looking at her with a hungry gaze, ready to lunge at its prey at any time, loving her traumatized form.

_Was she finally going to die?_

One of her eyes looked at the surrounding wolves. Their mouth watered, and looked as if they were enjoying her predicament.

A chill passed through her spine.

_Was this what if felt like to die?_

_Did her mother feel this way when she was at Death's door?_

The next thing she knew, she was screaming, one had latched itself onto her, its mouth on her leg. She tried to hit it but her arms were weak, feeble, and shaking.

_It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts._

Her hands erratically searched for something to hit. As if luck was with her side, her hands found something hard, thin, and long; an arrow. Not even hesitating, she used it to stab the wolf.

The one biting her leg weakened, falling down, another bite mark was there, bleeding.

_I hate this. I don't want to die here! _

With all the strength she could muster, she ignored her bad leg, her already tired body and tried to run.

Three seconds passed. And then…

Another one tackled her small body sending her spiraling on the ground. It growled at her, looking at her face, savoring her would-be last expression before they eat her.

_It's over._

She heard nothing but the sound of her own shaky breathing and her heartbeat.

Time never went slow for her as it did then.

There was the sound of the other wolves moving closer to her, ready to feast on her. In a last attempt to protect herself, as hopeless the gesture it may be, she clenched her eyes shut, tears falling as she moved her arms to cover herself.

_Someone, anyone, save me!_

Then the world turned black.

* * *

Her next memories were vague.

She felt as if she was being carried by someone, a body that's small yet so strong. It was so warm and gentle that she felt no chill, only that she wanted to savor the moment.

She tried to open her eyes only to see a blurry figure of pink. She could see no more because the pain was too deep and the world once again, turned black.

Her next memory of waking up was somewhere dark. It felt like was lying somewhere hard and rough like soil but there was also a slight comfort of laying her head on something cottony on her head. Her body was covered by a worn-out blanket.

She let out a groan of pain as she tried to open her eyes.

"Don't move. You'll make it hurt worse." The voice was definitely a boy's.

She could feel warm hands trying to make sure she lie down and not move. She could hear shuffles, him moving around and about.

Softly and gently, as if she would break, a warm hand tried to raise her to a sitting position.

"Eat this; it'll make you feel better."

Something warm slipped her mouth. Soup.

She was being fed. He must have noticed she was incapable of moving.

_Does this mean I'm alive?_

The feeling of food, entering her body was such bliss that she didn't care how much her body hurt. It felt so soothing, whoever this guy was, take such good care of her, like when her _mother _was still alive.

Those thoughts brought a fresh set of tears of her eyes. She tried to hold it in, but couldn't.

_That's right. Her mother… was dead and it was all her fault._

"What's wrong?" there was a soft clank as he stopped feeding her. The next thing she felt was warm arms wrapping around her so gently, he patted her back and hummed softly like a mother would to comfort a child.

"Igneel told me that if you're sad, this makes you feel better." The small act of affection made the tears fall, not of sadness or relief but because of a sensation she thought she'd never experience again.

She tried to raise her arms to hug him back only that she couldn't move them. Noticing this, he laid her down, forcing her arms at her hands at her side.

"Don't. You'll bleed. You have to rest."

She tried to open her mouth to speak, only to give out weak coughs.

"You're weird. I told you to rest."

Still, she wanted to say it, the words.

"Tt-thank-k yy-you" her voice was weak and croaky.

She felt something soothing her forehead.

"You're welcome. Now, sleep."

Those were the last things she heard before falling asleep. It was probably the first time she was able to sleep peacefully since her mother died.

Her next set of memories were also blurry.

She would wake up for a short while but always ended up sleeping and forgetting what transpired most of them.

All she knew was, she was being cared for, like she was _loved_.

Pink. His hair was pink. His eyes from what she could remember were intense, onyx and slanted. It briefly reminded her of dragons.

* * *

This time, her mind was sound clear when she woke up. Her body still hurt but it was tolerable. She tested her body, clenching and unclenching her hands. She tried to stand, only to notice it took a lot of effort. She was already huffing by the time she was standing.

There were bandages on her arms and legs making it hard for her to move. Her eyes looked around, only to discover she was in a forest clearing. She had been lying on the grassy ground, there was an old brown blanket pooled around her feet, probably what was used to cover her body. There was the scent of burned wood, evidence seen as there was a burned out fireplace used. There were some used utensils around evidence that someone had been living here. She still had her old clothes though it strangely felt cleaner.

"Oh, you're awake! That's great! But you shouldn't be moving around, you're still hurt." A new voice made her eep.

In front of her, was a boy with wild pink hair, his eyes were of an intense onyx color and slanted like a dragon's. He had a red shirt and shorts, with a white scaly scarf around his neck and was barefooted.

She took a step back, like a scared rabbit ready to take off any minute.

"You're kinda weird but Igneel always told me girls are something not meant to be understood." He had a wide grin on his face as he spoke. In his arms were- was that a dead dear?

Seeing her wide expression, ha gave a wild laughter. "You were wondering about this? It's what we'll be having for today." He said as he went around laying the carcasses deer, and took some firewood, to start the fire.

When he noticed her still not moving figure, he gave another pair of laughter ringing in the wind. "What are you doing? You're so weird."

The blond girl then proceeded to sit where she had been resting before covering most of her body with the old blanket, peeking at the pink haired guy with furrowed brows, eyeing him with both suspicion and shyness.

"Don't worry, I don't eat bunny girls!" to her surprise he opened his mouth and out, fire came out to torch the wood.

Her mouth opened wide in wonder. He's the one who was weird not her!

"I'm not bunny girl!" she tried to glare at him but would proceed to hide herself in the blankets when he as much looked at her.

The boy then, proceeded to take the pot filled with water to the fireplace.

"Well I don't know your name but yours sound like a bunny!"

The girl puffed her cheeks at the words, insulted.

"My name is Lucy! Don't forget it!" She then coughed out, one of hands on her chest, finding it hard to shout.

"I told you to rest didn't I? Geez, you sure don't know how to listen don't you?"

The girl continued to cough for a while. Next thing she knew, the kid was patting her back as he placed his other hand unto one of her shoulders to steady her.

"Sorry"

"It's fine as long as you rest Luigi" He covered her with the blanket.

"I'm Natsu by the way." He introduced himself. "Lucy" pouted at the name he called her with.

He rolled his eyes. "Okay, Lucy?" The girl suddenly gave a small yet shy smile at that, appreciating that he called her by her name.

Lucy gazed at the sky while he worked, cooking the deer. Were they really going to eat that? Shaking her head at those thoughts, she decided to think of getting one question she wanted to be answered the most. She had a lot of questions for him like why he was here. What is he? But Lucy really wanted to know was something entirely different. Gathering her courage, she finally decided to ask.

"What happened?"

Natsu stopped whatever he was doing to look at her.

"Well, I was searching for food, and then I heard someone screaming… then I saw you about to be eaten by those wolves."

"So… you saved me?" she her face redden, embarrassed at the situation she found herself in but at the same time thankful he helped her.

"Of course, I wasn't just going to let someone be eaten in front of me now would I?"

"B-but there were a lot of them, did you beat them all?" she asked in wonder.

"Of course I did! I'm a fire dragon slayer you know. I'm strong." He gave a proud huff at those words, showing one of his feeble arms as if it had some big sturdy muscles.

"Fire dragon slayer? What's that?"

"You must be really out of it if you don't know what it is. If you must know, it's a fire dragon magic taught to me by Igneel!"

"Igneel, who's that?"

Natsu then proceeded to sit by her side, in an Indian sit style as he told her about himself. By talking, Lucy learned he was a mage, a fire dragon slayer mage. He was taught by Igneel, a real fire dragon. Being young as she was, she didn't find it hard to believe. When she tried to ask where he was, Natsu's usual happy face became a little sad.

"He disappeared suddenly… But I'm going to find him." like magic, his expression suddenly changed to a happy one as if saying, he was fine.

A peaceful silence passed after that.

"I wish I was like you Natsu, strong. But I'm only weak and stupid." Lucy looked sadly.

Natsy gave her head a HARD pat. Lucy let out an "ouch" as rubbed her head.

"That hurt."

"If you're weak, then all you have to do is become strong!"

"That's impossible for someone like me." She was then hit with memories that almost made her want to cry all over again.

_Mother…_

"It is possible! If you're weak, I'll help you become strong!"

"Help me be strong? Huh?" she looked at the boy with a sad expression at that. Brief flashes of what led her to this situation came back flooding.

.

.

.

"_Lucy…" the loving blooded figure of her mother hugged her as she fell on top of her daughter, trying to protect the girl._

_._

_._

_._

"_I've no daughter! My wife and daughter are both dead!"_

_._

_._

_._

"_Get her out of my sight."_

_._

_._

_._

"What if I'm not strong enough?" she asked; her eyes close to tearing up.

He gave a tsk at that. "Then if you're not strong enough, I'll just hafta protect you 'till you get strong enough!"

Her eyes widened at that. Her tears, stopped instantly.

"You're such a crybaby, a girl, and a weirdo so I'll protect you until you can become strong. And here." He took his scarf and the decided to wrap it around her neck instead.

"This?"Lucy fingered the soft, scaly scarf, hiccupping.

"Yeah, this has strong magic that protects the wearer. It was my father's last memento. But I'm strong now so I'm lending it to you so it'll protect you, got it? So you gotta take good care of it, understand?"

"I-I can't take this. This is something very precious to you right? It's what you have of memory of your father."

"Why are you so stubborn? Accept it, okay? I told you before; I'm strong so I don't need it for now. You need it more than I do. You'll be giving it back. It's only temporary until you become strong. I don't mind lending it to you. Friends lend stuff, right?"

"But we just met, why would you give away something so important to you?"

"Lots of reasons. One's a secret. Second. I've been taking care of you for a while now so I'm responsible for you! Third, we're friends and you're important to me."

"I'll… I'll promise then! I'll become strong. When I do, I can give this back!" tears cascaded down. It had been quite some time since she last heard someone say such things to her, and it was from a not-so-stranger- anymore.

"You sure cry a lot! Okay, that's a promise then!" Natsu laughed.

* * *

The next weeks were blissful days that Lucy thought she would never experience again. Natsu teased her a lot, made her angry a lot but, he always found ways to change whatever frown she had into smiles and laughter. More often than not, he did it with ease, her not even noticing how he did it. The only thing she knew; she was mad, the next thing she knew, she was smiling. He was childish. His antics either amused her or got her mad.

They practically knew each other like the back of their hand. She knew what made him tick, what made him happy, what drives him to go crazy, and what made him sad or angry.

Despite how Natsu acted, Lucy admired him. As childish he was, he knew how to take care of himself, well of them. He could cook, hunt, and knew a good shelter when needed. As strange as it sounded, the little dragon also knew laundry though that particular skill needed a little help since he's so prone to fire.

"Ehhhhhh! So you're actually a mage too. That's amazing! What magic do you use?" Natsu looked at the blonde child in admiration.

"I use stellar spirit magic."

"Wait-if you could use magic, why didn't you just use magic to get rid of those wolves?"

The two were just chatting, as Natsu was cooking up a bear stew. Lucy was sitting on a log by his side, watching him cook.

Lucy shook her head at that.

"I was too tired to fight at that time. If I tried to summon, it was the same as dying. Celestial magic requires a lot of magic in order to use. I had already used up a lot of magic by then."

"Well, now that you're with me you'll definitely be alright." Natsu said confidently.

Lucy just smiled happily at his words.

"So today, we're having bear soup?"

"Yup!"

"You have to teach me sometime how to cook these, Natsu."

"Sure, I will!"

A peaceful routine rolled in the night as the two laughed chatting about whatnot enjoying basking the other's presence. Little did they know, it would be the last night they had with one another.

* * *

AN: I have no idea how scenes of Natsu cooking got here. It just ended up this way. It sounds completely crazy. I wasn't planning on it ending up this way. Supposedly, this was supposed to be written as one shot. From the way everything is going, it might end up with the probability of 3-5 not, it might end up extending. I hope it doesn't fall that way. I originally planned this to be short, not long. Forgive me for making the characters ooc. In this chapter Natsu is still the lovable everyone knows with a couple of changes. I just had it in my head the little furball knows how to cook despite being Natsu the way he is but… that'll change. Please look forward to the next chapters!

All done in a day! How did it go? Was it to your liking? Like or no like? Suggestions, comments, and critiques are all welcome.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fairy Tail.

**Author's notes:** BTW, I fixed the first chapter. I noticed it had a lot of grammar mistakes. I really hate when that happens. Chapter two is done! It took me a while before I found the chapter satisfying. I hope you guys like this one! I wasn't able to post it right away which was supposed to be yesterday since there was no internet connection but just for the record. I'm already in the middle of writing the third chapter. There isn't much of nalu interaction in the chapter but I hope you will enjoy reading the continuation.

For my reviewers; **Joanna97, RedRose43, bunannza**, thank you for your kind words, you got me writing until I finished the chapter.

**TheRandomGirl: **I'm happy you liked it! I, as well, am currently enjoyed writing this. Lucy and Natsu interacting together as children are hard not to love. I hope you like this one.

**Queen Of Narnia49: **As for what led Lucy into those wolves, that's something that the story will eventually reveal itself. Look forward to the coming chapters.

And onto the story

Enjoy

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* * *

"Natsu! What are you doing!" Lucy shouted as she fought against his tight hold.

"Stupid, you need to listen to me. Stop fighting me." As if in cue, a large roar resounded through the forest.

"I'm not leaving you to fight those monsters alone! You need me!" Lucy was being carried like a sack of potatoes on Natsu's shoulders. Natsu gritted his teeth as Lucy kicked and flailed against his hold.

"This isn't some average run of the mill monsters you can beat."

"All the more reason I need to help you! I feel all better! I can _fight._" The little girl had tears in her eyes, silently aware that she wasn't strong enough to fight such an enormous monster, that she would just get in Natsu's way. Still, that doesn't mean she can't try her luck.

"No. You can't. You know that." Natsu focused onto running, into the direction Lucy could assume where no one could threaten her. She bit her lower lips, tears falling freely, hating her helplessness when she needed it.

Minutes passed with nothing but the sound of Natsu's swift running, her silent hiccups, the sound of branches and leaves swaying as they passed through.

A few moments later, Natsu suddenly halted, dropping her carefully. Her eyes widened at the sight. She could hear the sound of the water's movement as they stood near the forest river. There was an unused boat nearby. Had it always been there? The water in the river's movement flowed in a direction that seems to go away from the place. He quickly pushed Lucy to the boat, ignoring her protests in which resulted to her falling on her rear on the boat.

"Natsu…" She whispered, crying. She didn't want to leave him, to lose him just like how she lost everything else…

The pink haired child put a sack along with some things as he patted her head.

"You really need to learn to stop crying if you want to become stronger." he wiped her tears away then gave a light laughter.

"Stupid. Didn't you say that you'd help me become stronger?" She gripped the familiar scarf around her neck looking at him with teary eyes.

"I also told you that I'd protect you. It's not like I'm dying. I'm a strong person. I don't want you getting hurt so you need to get away. I need to distract them so you could get away safely. This boat's destination will bring you to a nearby village so you'll be fine. This separation is only temporary, we'll be seeing each other soon enough. I just need to get rid of them, okay. I'll follow you after. So there's no need to cry." He then looked behind him, narrowing his eyes, sensing the danger approaching.

"See you later then!" He gave her a wide grin as he gave the boat a strong push enough to get it moving.

"Natsu! We'll… see each other… again, right? Promise?" Lucy all but shouted, her fingers, clenching the scarf around her neck tightly.

"Yeah, of course I will. Promise. Now take good care of yourself. I need to deal with those monsters." He smiled the same wide grin as he waved her goodbye.

She watched as Natsu ran back towards the forest, completely disappearing from her view.

_Natsu, if you don't find me. I'll go looking for you._

* * *

Seven days had passed since then. Seven days since she last saw Natsu. Seven days since she found and saw a small village. Seven days of waiting in a run-down village where there was no one. In fact, the village looked like it had been abandoned. There was no one there. She didn't have any problems with the place since it was a good place to stay. Food, shelter, and clothes were all there which she took advantage of.

Waiting was hard. She didn't mind being alone since she was used to it. Other than Natsu, she didn't have anything. Not a thing, not a place to return to.

"Puuu" startled by the familiar voice beside her, a small smile formed on her lips. Maybe not really alone, she took a glance at the small white dog spirit on her lap. "I have you don't I, Plue?" she wrapped her arms around the spirit. She still had her spirits. Her hands unconsciously fingered the keys. It was warm. That's right. _I still have you guys_, that's why she would never be alone.

"Puuu." Plue with his small arms, shaking as he always did, tried to wrap its feeble arms around the small girl.

Speaking of which, she wondered how Natsu was doing. Did he defeat those monsters? She was worried. There were a lot of monsters chasing them and Natsu was facing them. Alone. She wondered if he was alright. Natsu was strong but speculated if that strength of his was enough. She shook her head at that thought. She shouldn't think that. Natsu, though still a kid, was strong. He had this way of making you feel like everything would be alright. She had to hold on his words, that he was fine, that he would defeat them, and that they would meet up again.

She spent most of her days training herself to be stronger, trying out what Natsu taught her like cooking. He also taught her moves that would help. She couldn't really practice them since she had no partner to train with. There were also a lot of books lounging around. Since there was nothing else to do, she spent more often than not reading.

Waking up in the mornings were the hardest. She would sometimes woke up at dawn, tears in her eyes, crying from a nightmare. Usually, Natsu was always there to wipe her tears, and comfort her. She'd imagine him greeting her, teasing her for being such a crybaby only… she would then realize he wasn't there. Then she would remember the scarf around her neck and the promise that they would meet again. So she would immediately stop crying and hope he would come here.

_Natsu, when are you coming?_

* * *

Two weeks passed, yet there was still no sign of him. Lucy started to have her doubts. Natsu was not the type to just go around making promises he can't keep.

The unknown was scary. No news, no signs. Should she try going back? To Natsu? It wouldn't be that dangerous, right? Well there might be monsters there. That was one hurdle that usually kept her from leaving the place. Although she trained for a bit, she wasn't sure if she had what it took to go there on her own.

A repeat of what happened when she went on her own would do her no good. She ventured on the forest were there were monsters and practically almost lost her life. She went back to the village to heal. It was a good thing too, since she didn't injure herself that bad not to mention the village was enchanted. It takes a bit of thinking to get inside and outside, something that wasn't hard since she practically read all the books after a week of staying.

She was sure Natsu wouldn't be happy to see her do such things not after what he did to ensure her safety. If only there was another mage with her, someone strong. Maybe… an adult mage would do her good. It would be great if he was strong.

"Hello?"

She snapped out of her thoughts as she heard a voice. There shouldn't be anyone around the place.

"Hello?"

There it was again. Was she feeling so lonely, now she was hearing voices? _But then_, she closed her eyes concentrating.

Except… that was…

Magic.

A magic of another person. And the great thing about it, it felt strong.

There was someone in the village. She was in luck. If she played her cards right…

"Hey, you." A voice called out.

She turned her head to face the person who entered the village. Taking another bite of an apple she was munching, she continued eating.

"Are an inhabitant of the village?" In front of her was a male adult; covered in an old brown cape, covering most of his body with its edges in tatters, his hair was a messy orange that reached up to the nape of his neck framing his handsome face.

The girl just looked at him with suspicion in her eyes, her brows furrowing at him.

"Well are you?" he scratched the back of his neck.

"I've been living here for a while." She finally chose her words. She needed to keep silent for now. Whatever reason he was here, one thing's for sure, he's a mage and that was the important thing. She needed to plot, so that she can use him.

"So you're not from here then. Little missy, do you know where the villagers are?"

"No. No one's here but me." Was this guy really strong strong? He was an adult and a mage on top of that but really made her doubt since he looked like he hadn't taken a bath in weeks.

The strange man scratched the back of his head, looking at the sky with a conflicted expression.

"You haven't seen anyone around then?"

"Not since I came here." The village was abandoned as far as she could remember getting on the place.

"I see. I might as well take a look, maybe there's someone or some booze around."

"Suit yourself." The girl watch the man walked off to look around the place, not bothering to tell something important about the town that she had noticed. He would find out of his own. If he did, she use _that_ as a way to get him to help her.

* * *

_Strange. _

That was what Gildarts thought as he stared at the familiar sight of village center. He looked around the village to get something to eat, as well as hoping to find some clues about what happened to the town. With a little research here and there, he discovered a kidnapping took place seeing as there were some places in the town that showed evidence of struggling taking place. With all the information he got, he planned on leaving the village to go where the kidnappers were staying. Problem was, every time he tried to leave, he somehow ended up at the center of the village. Was this village enchanted or something? That was a problem. He didn't have the time to go around looking for the other exit. Then there was also that little girl. What was she doing around in a place like this? Maybe he could get some information out of her.

"You still haven't left?" he looked below to see the girl with her hands on her hips like he was some trouble making kid.

"I have a job to do." He gave a laugh as he answered the little girl as he waved the piece of paper which held the request.

"Job? Old man, are you a mage?" she asked, her eyes went wide, though there was something else in the way she looked. Amused? Like she was having fun or something… which she seemed to try to hide but couldn't. He idly wondered why.

"I'm not that _old_. I happen to be an appealing young man and on top of that, a mage of Fairy Tail."

"What about you? Why are you here? Where are your parents?" he asked, bending to his knees to reach her eye level as he patted the girl's head.

As if he said something bad, the girl suddenly glared at him. Talk about mood swings…

"I don't have one." Removing his hand on her head, she then proceeded to take the piece of paper from his hand, ignoring his "Hey!"

_Please rescue the missing townspeople! A group of monsters have been holding them captive in Mt. Shinui. Reward: 500 million jewels if successful._

"Oh. Are you strong?" she looked back at him with something akin to expectation in her eyes.

"Of course I am." Showing his muscles that usually made women swoon.

"I see." She peered at him from head to toe, criticizing him, with the piece of paper with the request between her hands. She alternated from the paper to him for a few seconds, as if she was contemplating "Alright, I've decided. I'm coming with you. I'll help you. Then you'll come with me."

"Wait-what? Can you repeat that again?" There was something wrong with the girl's statement.

The girl gave a huge sigh as if she was talking to an imbecile. "I'll help you with your job and then you'll come with me. There's a place I need to go." She said it as if there were no space for arguments. It idly reminded him of young Erza.

"Uh, how about a no?" He couldn't just take a little girl with him.

"Why not?" She pouted.

"It's not a place for kids."

She just glared harder.

"You couldn't even get out of the village right? Well I know how to get out of here." Her voice had a tone of smug. Without even waiting for his reply, she started walking in another direction.

"The exit's this way. Follow me."

A couple of steps then, she abruptly stopped to face him. "Oh I almost forgot. I'm Lucy. It's a pleasure to be working with you." she bowed her head a bit as she introduced herself.

The adult mage just heaved a huge sigh. Women, even little girls are as bipolar as they get and demanding. It seemed like there was no convincing the odd girl. Lucy had practically decided everything. "Alright, I'll go along with you little missy but then there are some things I want answered, got it? For the record, I'm Gildarts, a mage of fairy tail." He gestured to himself as he walked by her side.

"Sure, it'll be fun working with you."

* * *

"Wow, you're really strong old man."

"Ahh I overdid it again." he scratched the back of his head looking sheepishly at the scene before them.

The ground was broken in several parts making the place look like an earthquake devastated the place. Giant monsters lied around unconscious; various people locked in cages looked at the two strangers with a shock look on their faces.

The job didn't even take a minute to finish.

A couple hours later back at the village, the people were feasting as thanks for the two for saving the town. (AN: not like Lucy did that much to help)

Gildarts had two women draped on his shoulders, happily drinking with a silly grin on his face as they flirted with him. People were singing, dancing, and drinking themselves silly with happiness that the ordeal that the village had been going through was gone.

It was a few hours later that he noticed that the blonde little girl wasn't around the party. Curious, he excused himself, decided to look for her only to find her in an isolated area. She was sitting on a box, drinking, as she looked at the night sky filled with stars.

"Hey, why are you here? Shouldn't you be partying there along with us?"

Her eyes widened in surprise at the sight of him, breaking whatever thoughts she was having. Looking at her drink- which he hoped was not booze- a strange smile erupted at her face. "I'm celebrating too, just not with them since I'm… not that good with crowds."

"Really?" he took a sit next to the girl.

"It's just… I'm not used to be in a place with so much people." He scratched his chin as he looked back on what happened earlier when they-well more like he-rescued the villagers. The girl was strangely meek when she helped the villagers. None of the spirit she had earlier was there when she helped them. She was fidgety, strangely pale, and looked like she was_ too shy_ to talk with them. She more often than not, let him do the talking as she watched them, hiding behind him like the little girl normally should be.

But when he teased her about it, whatever issue she had, which she tried to hide though everyone could see through the little girl's demeanor. It didn't last long seeing as he teased his way around her, managing to coax her out of her shell bringing her back to her spirited self. Everyone went along with it, finding it absolutely adorable and much cuter when she was talked back, full of spirit, her shyness and nervousness, gone.

"Is it because you live alone?"

"I don't see what living alone has anything to do with that." She snorted at the implication. "Did you see those people? They're so many. Don't you find it kind of freaky?" Lucy looked with wide eyes her expression holding a mixture of wonder and fear waving her arms frantically.

Just where exactly did this girl live before? Stone Age? He found himself laughing at her. Of things to be afraid of.

"Since I owe you for helping me out missy, where exactly are we going?"

"Ooh. You mean that? There." She dusted dirt out of her lap, stood up pointing to a direction where the river was.

"What's there?"

"Well my friend… actually, my best friend might be there."

"_Might?_"

"I'm not sure if he's still there but that's where he lives." He heard a note of worry in her voice. "Plus, the reason why I'm here in the first place was because I was waiting for him to show up. But he's not here." She took another gulp of her drink, wincing at the taste. "But it's been like what- two weeks since then. I'm worried so I want to check out the place if he's there."

"I don't think there's any town or village in that direction. As far as I could tell there's nothing but what, the forest or mountains, oh and what? The great mother of nature?"

"I know my way through the forest there. Natsu lives there!" Was this Natsu the name of her friend? Was _he_ even human or was he some wild animal?

"Okay. I'll do it. There's something I need to see anyway. I wouldn't mind a little side trip. But first thing's first." Gildarts snatched the girl's beer away ignoring her complaint. "I'll be taking this. Children are not supposed to drink."

"What do you mean by that? One of the villagers gave it to me." Why did he suddenly feel like she was lying? It sounded too familiar, like an excused that his own kid reasoned whenever there was a party back home.

Giving her the same look adults used on kids, he saw her sigh. "Okay, so it's beer. I wanted to try some since people seemed to love it so much. So give it back." her hands gestured to him, urging him to return the thing.

"I'm telling you, you can't." What a stubborn kid.

"Why not?"

"You're not yet… prepared."

"Prepared? This is not one of those –you're still a kid kind of thing, right? I've been hearing them all day harp those lines at me." She said incredulously. He wondered how long she spent to get the villagers to give her the beer. The villagers, as happy as they were, wouldn't just give a little girl the booze, no matter how hard she must have tried to convince them otherwise.

Maybe he should try another route.

"You really like it that much huh?"

"Uhh, well of course. Beer is great!" at the corner of his eyes, he saw her eyes widen in surprise. At the same time, she sounded unsure and guilty like she didn't know what she was saying. It lacked the confidence it usually had. He knew a lie when he saw one. Maybe he should try pushing her a bit further. That should convince her otherwise.

"Okay then. I've decided. Since you love it so much, here." He suddenly put the drink on her hands.

"Okay?" she looked at him blankly.

"Well... who am I to deprive you of it?"

The girl looked at him suspiciously but at the same bewildered.

"I mean you love it so much. I really shouldn't take it away from you. In fact-" Gildarts then proceeded to pour more into her half-filled mug. "To make it more fun, let's drink together!"

"Drink together?"

"Yeah!" he guffawed as he swallowed a mouthful from his.

Minutes passed as he happily drunk, the girl staring at her drink silently with a look of eew over her features.

"What are you doing? Aren't you going to drink? Didn't you like booze? Don't waste it now." _Just a little more push. _He thought as he look at the girl, her expression changing from disgust, to a weird smile, obviously trying to hide her dislike of the way the situation was going into.

"Hahaha. I'll drink it then?"

"Well? Drink it!" He grinned happily, his face a bit red refilling his mug. That had to be his third bottle now.

She gulped, alternately looking at her mug and Gildarts before grinning as if she was going crazy.

Taking a huge swing, she too, then put the mug on her lips and started drinking.

The girl had guts. Well, he didn't expect this but oh well. _What happened, happened_. No one's here to reprimand him anyway. He'll deal with the consequences later.

* * *

Three days passed before the two set to the place Lucy wanted to go. Really, the two were supposed embark the day after but she had a major what- Gildarts called it hangover. She ended up vomiting contents she ate. Ugh. She was never going to drink that thing again. Gildarts on the other hand seem so fine. That just made her angrier as she remembered the guy laughing at her. She was so going to get him back for what happened that night. That guy must have known she wasn't going to drink the whole thing _but _just for fun, even so, he manipulated his way around her.

Not only she had to deal with hangover, the two also ended up staying for two more nights. The party actually lasted for two more days. The villagers were determined to celebrate until they drunk themselves to oblivion. Not to mention, they wouldn't let the two leave. The only reason they got away was the fact that everyone was passed out from the party. She was sober at that time, something she had to work hard at seeing as Gildarts had somehow managed to convince them that she had the right to drink. Really, she needed to start plotting her revenge. She then forcefully woke Gildarts up so the two of them could leave the place.

Lucy wasn't sure if Natsu was still there. It wasn't like Natsu specifically told her that he'd come right after dealing with those monsters only that even if they were separated, only that they'd see each other. She assumed that he'd go the village where she stayed at but it didn't feel like that was happening anytime soon. Maybe he was injured and recuperating around. Knowing him, he could have injured himself silly despite the fact he's good at taking care of others.

As Lucy walked into the forest with Gildarts, she couldn't help but feel nostalgic as the feeling of being here. It had been quite some time since she'd last been there. Visions of her and Natsu walking around, collecting firewood, playing around and whatnot filled her head. As short the time the two may have spent it felt like they've been around each other for so long, living in their own little world. It was like coming home.

_Home, a place where she could return._ "Aren't you hot in that?" Gildarts asked, snapping her thoughts of Natsu, pointing the scarf she always wore.

"Not really, it's actually comfortable to have around." _Like he's here with me even when he's not, _she added silently.

"Okay." She found herself smiling, happy that he dropped the subject.

After a couple of minutes walking in silence, Lucy started to feel doubt. There was the fear that Natsu might not be there. Moreover, there was the lingering feeling of danger that she felt which shouldn't be there at all as the two walked their way through. Something felt amiss. Was it the lack of presence or does it stem from the feeling of seeing Natsu again? She couldn't help but feel nervous. Glancing at the older mage beside her, she vaguely noticed how he looked uncharacteristically serious, a contemplative look plastered on his face, as he looked ahead, giving her no mind.

"Lucy, behind me." He said so suddenly, she didn't expect it.

"Huh, what? We're almo-"

"_Now" _Sensing the seriousness of his voice, she shut up did as he said.

"Stay here." Without waiting for a reply he walked ahead, leaving the blonde child behind, ignoring any sound of protests she had.

It was only minutes later that she realized that something was _very wrong_ when she heard a loud sound of something akin to a stomp and a roar, with birds flying away in fear.

Allowing the man to deal with the situation, the small mage sat on the forest floor, wrapping her hands around her bent knees, leaning on a tree. Although it was nice of him to go ahead on his own to deal with the situation, she would've liked to deal with it herself. Then again, Gildarts was one heck of a powerful mage as seen as how he dealt with those monsters at the mountain back then without really trying.

Minutes later had the girl sighing as she stared at her feet. This should be over in no time. Natsu was fine right? Maybe GIldarts already saw him. She felt excitement bubbling coursing through her unaware of the looming shadow a couple of steps behind her.

By force of habit, she glanced another direction her thoughts drifting as to how long she had to wait behind her only-

A huge tentacle came swooping lashing at her. Unprepared, Lucy was caught off-guard as it hit her stomach sending her crashing towards the trees.

The impact hit her with immense pain knocking wind out of her, her mouth opening a silent scream to release some of the burden her small body.

Groaning in pain, she quickly took a golden key out, prepared to fight if needed to.

The monster in front her was well- she didn't know what words she should use to describe it- but it had an upper body of something like a bear with zebra like stripes having human like arms with paws but from its waist and below was that of multiple octopus-like tentacles.

Sensing his movement to lash another of its tentacles, she called forth a spirit, saying "Open the door to the Bull!" the familiar shape of the muscular human shaped bull came out, carrying a heavy ax cutting the tentacle that was about to attack her.

"Mooo! Still not yet fully developed but I'll help you become a nice body Lucy!" the girl in question just looked confused not really understanding what the meaning behind his words.

"We-ll, anyway. Now's not the time. We need to deal with him!" another attack was coming. "Taurus, please!" Taurus easily averted the situation to their favor by smashing his ax on the solid ground causing a small quake, making the enemy swaying off balance, his attack, missing by a couple of inches. Using that momentum of the hybrid-like enemy's state, Taurus, with its sheer strength leaped quickly cut the enemy in half.

Lucy wiped her head as she gave another huff. She knew using a gold key gate took a lot of power, she just didn't know it would take so much. In fact, the scenery before her was starting to become blurry.

"Well, all done. I'll be waiting 'till you become nice body. Until then! Mooo." He then disappeared in a flash of light.

She smiled at the words. He must have noticed how it was impossibly hard it was for her to summon a spirit of a golden key gate. She didn't have time to muse as her head started to feel lightheaded. In fact, the scenery before her was starting to become blurry. Her knees buckled, falling to the ground with a soft thump. So tired… it was so tiring to summon. Wincing, she could barely keep herself up, noticing the pain her body suffered. Placing a hand on her torso where the tentacle hit her she briefly remembered the immense pain combined with her back that hurt from being slammed on the tree's bark. Vaguely, she felt herself falling to the ground.

Gingerly raising her hands to feel the soft scarf, she couldn't help but think of Natsu. She defeated the monster. Did that make her stronger? Her eyes slowly closed, drowsiness taking over to bear the pain of her small body took. She silently noted the familiar silhouette of Gildarts before she felt herself falling into something soft as the world turn black.

Hours later she found herself awake, it was already night time, and Gildarts was eating happily.

"Finally awake missy?" She sat up, wincing, noticed her bandages on her torso. She blinked her eyes a couple of times then felt her stomach grumble in hunger. She saw Gildarts look at her, eyes in mirth causing Lucy to blush in embarrassment.

He didn't say anything but handed her a piece of meat that was cooked over the fire. She mumbled her thanks; she took a bite, savoring the taste.

Minutes of silenced passed between the two with noting but the sound of the wood burning, the wind whistling softly with the leaves rustling accompanying. The experience made her feel nostalgic; it was almost like something she did before, except the lack of presence of the person she was looking for wasn't there.

What happened? She scratched her memory remembering waiting for Gildarts when some hybrid-like monster attacked her. She vaguely remembered defeating it with Taurus help and then what? Then what, she tried to think of what happened then but nothing came to her head. Whatever the case since she was here, alive and well only meant that Gildarts probably dealt with the remaining enemies.

Odd, she would have taught there would be no threat since Natsu… should have defeated those. She still saw no sign of him which either worried or relieved her. It was either one or the other. Then again, the two hadn't been here long enough to reach _the place_. Chances are, Natsu may be still lounging around which is something she hoped to be the case so that this won't be some wild goose chase.

But she doesn't find him here… she bit her lip at the thought, not really wanting to think about that.

"What's wrong?" he asked, one of his brows rose in question.

"Uhh, nothing… I was just thinking about what happened earlier… but… never mind about that!" she wanted to focus at her goal why she came here. As scared as she was of the unknown, the need to know was stronger. "Did you see anyone here?"

Several seconds passed; there was no response from the man. She held her breath, worried, for he was not saying anything. That troubled her.

"Shouldn't you first focus on healing before asking me that?" he looked at her, peering at her injured torso.

"I'm fine."

He gave her a hard look. Lucy could have laughed; the expression didn't seem to fit the carefree old man.

"Okay, so I don't really feel all that well…" she relented, okay, the wound on her torso hurt a lot more than she cared to admit but that's not what she wanted to know.

"Rest first, then we'll talk tomorrow." as if he sensed her thoughts.

She bit her lower lip. "But I want to know now."

"Tomorrow, _okay._"

Several second passed, the two, having a staring contest until Lucy tore her eyes away, staring at the fire, puffing her cheeks in annoyance.

"Alright. Happy?"

"Very. Children _normally_ listen to adults." He ruffled her hair, a gesture of his which started to annoy her.

She then continued to eat, a bit peeved but accepted Gildarts insistence to postpone their talk. There was something about Gildarts silence told her something was wrong. Whatever it was, it'll have to wait in the morning. It shouldn't be that _bad_. Right now, she was comfortable with eating out in the open. Waiting a day isn't that long.

Unknown to the little girl, tomorrow would be a day where she would realize nothing would ever be the same.

* * *

**AN:** Heck, Gildarts wasn't even supposed to make an appearance and here he was; a full blown interaction with him and Lucy. It's funny how writing could do that. I hope the chapter wasn't too long. I know I cut the scenes of interaction between Natsu and Lucy short but I have my reasons for doing that.

How do you find the chapter; like it? Or not? Comments, critiques and suggestions are all welcome.

'Till next time.

KaUiA


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fairy Tail.

**Author's notes:** Here's chapter three. There still won't be any Natsu and Lucy interaction. Do you love the way Gildarts and Lucy interact? Brace yourself since there will be more of it. Especially in this chapter. _To my reviewers_, thank you for your words. It makes me happy.

And so! I present to you, chapter three of Twist in time.

Enjoy!

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_In a short amount of time, this place sure has gotten really weird._

Those were the thoughts that Lucy carried, as she leaned her back to a tree, trying to hide her presence as another gigantic hybrid-like monster with its large visible figure walked around. The forest… was different; unreal not because of its ferociousness but like it lacked that lost vibrancy that it used to have. It felt more foreign than familiar.

Shaking her head at those thoughts, she waited until the monster faced a different direction, and walked away to a different direction. She was still injured, although she had recovered most of her magic, no one would seriously face a monster like that. Even if she was fully healed, she didn't know anyone who ram to an enemy like it was nothing except… Gildarts. She could swear that despite being _old_ and being a powerful mage, he had absolute no sense of direction. Back when they went into Mt. Shinui to rescue the villagers, he walked straight ahead, ignoring the trees in his face, walking and tearing them down by ramming straight into them like there wasn't any at all, creating a new path to use.

The little mage gave a sigh. Lucy was carrying a basket of fruits. She had woken up early, her stomach grumbling for food which brought her to her current situation. Initially, she planned on getting Gildarts to get some food but no matter how she punched or kicked him, the guy remained deep asleep, snoring; then again, it was probably a good idea to leave him behind since all he would do was walk straight ahead, bumping into monsters and annihilating them the same time. As much as she'd love to see that. She preferred to get breakfast right away. That course of action required her to be stealthy and not attract any attention.

When she deemed the place was safe enough to move, she didn't waste time to hurried her way back to the camp. There were a lot of oddity monsters but it was also easy to avoid them if you knew your way around. _That_ was her advantage. By the time she returned to camp, she already noticed the older mage to have already begun drinking booze even though it was so early.

"Oh you've brought food. That's great!" He greeted her with a happy wave.

"Yeah, you snored like the dead so I went on my own." She then brought down the basket in front of him, and then picked up an apple to eat.

"My bad." He rubbed the back of his hair like always with that wide smile.

"It's okay; you'd just hinder me so it's fine." Then the two started eating.

Lucy kept glancing from her food then back at him the whole time while they were eating, fidgeting, her eyes with an odd combination of hesitance and purpose, her mouth opening a bit to try tell him something but then would close up, blushing at how she must have seem so ridiculous. If Gildarts noticed her dilemma, he gave no indication he was aware of it, for he only kept eating like it was nothing.

After eating the last piece of fruit, she finally got her courage to speak.

"Um, you told me yesterday that there was something important to talk about. Tell me already what it is so we can head to the place I want us to go."

"Is it that time already?"

"Yes."

"Can it wait?"

"You told me tomorrow and _today_ is tomorrow."

"Oh, really. So it's like that after all." He let go of the booze he had been drinking, putting it on his side, sighing, then looked at her indecisively, like he didn't want to talk about it if he had any other choice.

"Uh yeah… it seemed important so I wanted you to tell me already so we can head there. It's not that far from here." the girl didn't look at Gildarts but only at her lap, her voice, uncharacteristically soft but filled with an excitement he hadn't heard before.

"We'll… I guess I'll just say it frankly then." He paused with uncertainty. The girl leaned forward with expectation. "For starters, we should leave the forest. If we start now, we'll make it out by midday."

Lucy widened her eyes, half-choking the water she was drinking. She stared at Gildarts for what seemed like hours, her eyes never straying away. It took a while for the information to digest, his words echoing in her head. She then took a deep breath, wondering what compelled the older mage to say something like that.

"What-leave! That doesn't make any sense. We just got here and I- still have things to do. And… didn't you say there's something on this forest you also need to do?"

"Oh that? I've already done it last night while you were sleeping."

"That's unfair! Well- I still have places to go so I'm not leaving." She crossed her arms. He got to do what he wanted. Didn't she have the same right to do the same?

"Don't be stupid, you'll die if you try to remain in a place as dangerous as this."

"No, I won't. I still need to go there, and then we can leave."

"That's exactly why you shouldn't stay here."

"I'm still going whether or not you're here." She said stubbornly.

Gildarts faced-palmed, shook his head with a sigh which she perceived refer to be her stubbornness. She watched him, but flinched when he suddenly give her with a hard look, his face so close to hers for what seemed to last for eons. Once he averted his gaze, the girl felt relieved but still watched the man count fingers, and nod to himself, contemplating on one thing or another. After a few minutes, he stopped what he was doing and looked at her for a few seconds, like he was wondering what to say to her.

"Lucy I'm sure you've already noticed but this forest is different." Lucy silently contemplated the answer, humming her agreement, still unsure where he was going on with this. If he was trying to convince her, it wouldn't work. Nothing can change her mind now but she didn't mind seeing him try to convince her otherwise.

"So how does the island relate to me going there?"

"Meaning, this friend of yours- Natsu was it? It's best to assume he might not be here anymore." Lucy gave him a noncommittal look that he just ignored. "I'm sure you've noticed the huge difference in the place. I won't tell you the details but the only thing I can say is that whatever living creatures that used to be here, it had probably left or died. Staying here isn't worth the time to waste."

"Well even if it is, I still want to go see. What's the trouble of going there? None right? You wouldn't mind a little side trip on our way out."

"No can do. I still say we should begin leaving." he said with more insistency.

"Why? If he's not there at least I'm sure and I can just go look for him somewhere else." His insistence bothered her. Just what did he find last night and just won't seem to divulge the information?

Gildarts tightened his jaw at that.

"You might not find anything."

"I will, and if I go and see, at least I know where to go next."

"You _can't._" he said it with emphasis that Lucy was taken back at his words.

"What do you mean by that? Do you know something?" she watched him look away, there was something in his words that told her something was very wrong. "You do _know_ something don't you?"

"No, I don't. Even if I do, I can't tell you. The only thing I can tell you is that there's nothing to find. These monsters, they're not exactly alive- ah I mean whatever that was here before, it's now gone and that includes your friend."

_Like Natsu's no longer here. Like he might be dead. _Gildarts gave the impression like he was saying that. Even if her friend wasn't there, she still couldn't fathom why the man deemed it necessary to leave right away and tell her with such a tone that her friend was-

Realization struck her. Had he already gone there? To that _place_? To the place of where she and Natsu stayed? A forbidding feeling arose in her chest at that thought. What did he see? A gnawing urge to know started to eat her.

Lucy shifted her eyes at him to find him looking at her. Her throat, unable to form words, eyes just begged the elder man for answers which he ignored. An uncomfortable silence settled between the two. Gildarts eyes had a serious demeanor. Lucy's eyes just narrowed in suspicion. The urge to bolt and leave was there but something held her here. Was it fear that now pounded in her chest of what she might find if she left now?

The place became eerily quiet, as if it sensed the thick tension between the two humans.

Several seconds passed. Lucy looked at Gildarts, her hands shaking as she put them on her lap, clenching and unclenching the hem of her skirt.

As quiet as she could, she managed to get her voice out though it was hushed, shaking, and struggling to keep it even, "What do you mean by that?"

For a while, Gildarts did not say anything. He just stared the small girl, his face betraying no emotion, his face; tense. Then, he let out a soft sigh, looking at another direction.

"It's exactly as you think it is."

"Explain what you mean by that." Lucy looked at her lap, biting her lip, angry lines starting to form.

"There is nothing to explain. That's that." His face betrayed no emotion. She observed him for a while, trying to see if he was serious or not, if what he was saying some big joke and would laugh and start ruffling her hair whenever he joked.

"What did you see there?"

The older mage didn't reply at all and the silence, heavy with tension lasted for a while but Gildarts did nothing nor did he say anything. The girl struggled to breathed in and out, trying to get a hold of her emotions but couldn't.

_Natsu might be dead. _He was implying that her friend was already dead. How could he be so sure? She wasn't even sure that her frined was here. He could have already left the forest for all she knew and yet- what made him say such things, be so sure that it shouldn't be questioned?

She had to know-no, needed to know for sure, to see what Gildarts saw.

Lucy abruptly stood up, the sound of her boots stepping on the soft grass, one after the other. She went passed Gildarts, only stopping when he placed his big hands on her shoulders, kneeling to reach her eye-level.

"What?" her bangs covered her eyes.

"Don't."

"I need to check." She looked up, her eyes potent with emotion, her mouth with a stubborn pout.

"What's there to check?"

"The truth."

"There's only one truth and that's-"

"Something yet to be seen." She looked back at him, eyes potent with emotion. "I need to see with my own eyes."

"Lucy, listen to me… You're still badly injured and in no condition to-"

"It is worth it. I'm finally here. He might be there. No one knows. If he's not, then I-"

"What if he's not? Is it worth doing all these? Is it worth the risk?" he gestured to the place, reminding the girl of what happened to her yesterday.

Lucy looked down, biting her lower lip, one of hands on her injured torso. She didn't say anything.

"Would this _Natsu_ want you to doing this? Would he be happy with you doing this?"

"Shut up!" she tried to push him away, only managing to get his hands off as she backed a couple of steps, surprised at her own actions but still close to Gildarts.

"You don't know anything. You don't know him. You… don't know anything… about me… about us." She said it quietly but her voice was laced with a combination of anger and sadness, denying the words being spoken to her.

"Lucy… I'm-"his voice was cut short when letting out a grunt of pain, his hands at the side going to where she hit him, his face writhing in pain, falling to the solid ground with a soft thud.

"I'm sorry, I really am but I need to go." She backed a couple of steps, the man still bent in pain as she continued. "Thank you for all your help. You've been very nice. Goodbye." She bowed her head before running away, disappearing beneath the trees.

"Lucy… dammit." He waited for a few minutes, waiting for the pain to ebb away, quickly making decisions in his head at the same time. A few minutes passed before he stood up. He looked at the direction where she ran off a while ago with sadness. Shaking his head, he started walking into the direction where the girl disappeared to.

* * *

Lucy ran, tears close to flying but managing to hold them off from falling, still denying the words that was just spoken to her. All she needs to do is check, just see it. She won't believe it any other way.

_I'm sorry Gildarts but I have to do this and ascertain the truth with my own eyes._

Her eyes were brimming with determination as she ran ahead, shaking her head so as not to think and concentrate on her goal. She remembered the pathway there, the place where she and Natsu stayed at. She wouldn't have any problems going there since he taught her the best path so as not to encounter any monsters.

"_Remember this Luce. Memorize this because this path is a pathway where there are no monsters." He had such a serious demeanor that it made Lucy gave a small giggle. It looked devastatingly cute whenever he was in –teaching mode-_

"_Why are you laughing you weirdo?"_

"_Nothing." She shook her head giving Natsu another smile to which he blushed and looked away._

"_Your such a weirdo." He mumbled still not facing her._

She was close by, only a few more minutes of running left. But a few seconds ticked when something she saw made her slow down.

The trees thinned as she walked, some broken down. She slowed until she was only walking.

Something was wrong. The more she walked, the more she saw signs of fighting that had occurred. Then she saw a clearing which made her stop. There shouldn't be any yet. There should have been more trees, then froze, realizing that it wasn't bare because it was something supposed to be but something destroyed this part of the forest.

She looked around, only to see that the trees left were few, its leaves were brown, and badly damaged. Some places were bare with traces of trees that may have been burned. There were fallen leaves and holes like something big had been going through and fro. There were some scattered dead bodies, which had her flinching at the sight. It was all torn up; a leg, a paw, tail, some open with its insides that flowed out, weeks old but still no other animals were here to eat the remains.

The fight must've reached here. The ground didn't have any life in them but was brown and a bit hard, all dried up, with some cracks along the way.

_What on earth happened here?_

It looked terrible. She knew it would be bad. Gildarts had warned her, going far as to hurt her with his words, not intentionally. She knew the old man meant well but she needed to see with her own eyes no matter how dangerous it could not have been nor what she could have seen.

She gripped the scarf around her neck as she started dashing again. There wasn't enough time to waste. The clearing where they stayed was close by. His face flashed back to her head, memories of laughing, running, and horsing around filled her. Soon. Only a little bit more of running and she'll see it. And then…

She saw it.

.

.

.

Rather, she saw what was left of it.

What she saw made her freeze; her knees suddenly lost all strength and had her buckling to the ground, her eyes staring into nothingness.

* * *

When Gildarts arrived to where the girl was, what he saw was a sad sight. As if she knew he came chasing after her, she turned to look at him, standing, and her hands gripping a red shirt, smeared with dried blood.

His jaw tightened with tension. It was hopeless of him to try otherwise. Maybe it was inevitable. Then her voice struck him from his thoughts.

"This was his favorite shirt." She said so silently as if like he had to check his ears whether he really heard her speak or not.

She then dropped the shirt and walked to another area, that looked the same as the rest; brown, burned, and all dried up.

"And this… you, know… was the place where we would usually sleep when it wasn't raining." The girl closed her eyes, a ghost smile on her face at the memory she was speaking off. "When you look up at the sky… you would see so many stars. The sky always looked great from here especially if you were lying on your back. I would tell him all about the constellations." She paused heading to another place where there seemed to be an old fireplace used. "This is usually where we cook. Actually, Natsu did most of the cooking. He cooks great you know though he didn't look anything like it. And there you know…" she then would start pointing out things and places, saying things that was related to her and her friend's memory, of what they did, of the memory of that took place. He had no doubt that this place used to be beautiful. All the while, she held a frail smile, her expression, sad and ghostly, lacking the luster it had before she ran away from him.

He didn't attempt to stop the girl from speaking, knowing that she needed to get this out, the turmoil she must have been bearing inside since the day he met her, alone in the village, waiting for a person that may not come. Deep inside, the girl probably knew, that even if she went here, she would see something terrible, something she didn't want to see, that it would make her this.

Lucy didn't come here hoping to see her friend, despite the happy demeanor façade she put on the outside and probably, even to herself. He couldn't help but respect her bravery of going to this place, knowing it the danger, knowing the pain she would be in.

So silently, he watched.

He watched her small shaky body, trying badly to be strong though failing badly. Her eyes were so close to tears but didn't fall. As she spoke with that voice, one of her hands gripped the scarf, like it was the only thing that held her up.

So silently he watched as she went near the cliff, watched as she gazed with emptiness, like she lost everything and that there was nothing to gain.

"He's still here, right? Somewhere, alive and well?" she asked no one in particular.

So he watched as she looked at the sky and started screaming. She just screamed and screamed, blaming no one, being angry at no one but needed to let out the pent up emotions no one could hope to name.

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… To the point until she almost lost her voice.

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… Until it was hoarse.

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… Until she lost her strength, closing her eyes, and falling into a sea of unconsciousness.

How long she had stared at the scenery screaming, with a voice that spoke no words, with its sounds so unbearable to hear, he couldn't tell.

He could only pray that she did not dream, so that she did not dream of her memories of the time she spent in this place to only wake up and realize the horrible reality the world has put her in nor would she be visited by nightmares that in her dreams did nothing but put her misery unto misery.

But ever since he saw her here, not once did she let herself cry. Sure she was teary but not once did she let one fall… that if gave herself the chance to cry, she'd be betraying someone, betraying her friend who may or may not be alive.

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"We should go. This isn't a safe place to be." It was morning at that time. The two had just woken up recently. Logically, he would prefer to eat first but since there was no life here and this place would cause nothing but misery upon the young girl, he thought it be best if they chose another place. The girl just nodded, still staring at nothing in particular.

The girl was silent since then. He didn't dare say anything, aware that she needed the time, the space. He only spoke when needed to.

After a few days, they were camping somewhere in the forest, a place they should have already left but stayed for the girl's sake when she surprised him by speaking for the first time after days.

"I've… made a decision." It was so soft and docile he found it hard that it was her voice but at the same time relieved to hear her voice.

"I think Natsu is still alive." She looked at him as she said, her eyes, for the first time filling a little bit of that determination he saw in her back then.

He gave her a _hmmm_, choosing not to say anything, of what his thoughts ranged from.

"There were no bodies. His body, if dead, wasn't around at all." She paused, looking at the sky. "I have no idea where to look but… I'm going to search for him… after all…" she then proceeded to take off her scarf for the first time and put it on her lap, holding it with her hands. "We promised that we would meet again."

It may be hopeless endeavor but it's her will, who was he to say anything? Alive or dead, she would search for that person.

"I see." He proceeded to sit besides her, putting one of his hands on her head; her body shook badly at the touch, starting to lean on him.

"I also promised him… that I would become stronger… so… so… I… I…I won't cry." her hands shook badly, her lips trying to curve into a smile.

So that was why. No matter how much despair she seemed to be in, how hurt she was, she didn't- No, chose not to shed any tears.

Children weren't supposed to be this way. If they were hurt, they cried. But for some time now, he always saw how children, instead of adults, do this.

"You know… in my travels, someone strong and wise once told me" he paused, remembering an old man very dear to him. "Tears are not a weakness. With crying, it shows you another form of strength. Crying doesn't only show strength but also shows that one strong person can become stronger by crying." he didn't look at anything particular as he said this.

The girl closed her eyes at this, holding the scarf close to her heart, shaking badly at what his words seem to tell her, few streaks of tears dripping from her tear ducts. "… Is it really okay?" she asked, her voice so weak, tearing but desperately trying not to. "Is it really okay for me to cry?" her other hand then gripped his cape, opening her eyes, not looking at anything particular but the sky.

He only gave her head one small pat then the next thing he knew, the girl, jumped towards him, still gripping the scarf, sending the two people plummet to the ground as she tried to wrap her hands around him. Her tears that she held inside for so long started to fall and smear his clothes.

Softly, he put his hands on her back, giving her comfort, as she cried and cried her tears away.

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_A day after…_

"So what do you plan to do now?" he asked as the two walked their way out of the forest.

"Oh, that? I'm planning on one thing." She continued walking, a small soft smile enamoring her as she looked ahead, not really gazing at Mother Nature's wild beauty but to her own thoughts. Her voice was still a bit hoarse but it held a quality that had a hint of the one he met back at the village, maybe one that was different.

"What is it then? Maybe this old man can be of help?"

"Well… it's actually something only I can do." She had her hands on her back clasped together as she walked cheerfully beside him, traces of inner turmoil she had yesterday as if it was gone.

"What's that? I'm a bit curious."

"I think it's more than just a bit." She said. He could see a frown on her face. "You've always been so nosy. Are adults always like this?"

"Not really, just charming guys like me can't resist girls like you."

She gave a little laugh at his attempt to make her smile.

"Adults are so weird! Well… my plan is my promise. Actually two promises."

"Promise? You did mention something like that once."

"Yeah, a promise. I was such a crybaby that he gave me his scarf." Lucy paused, eyeing her scarf with a soft fond smile, holding it softly. "In order to return it, I promised him that I would become strong."

"And the second one?"

"The second was… that we would meet again." Gildarts gave an hmmm in response. For a girl that seemed to have lost everything, she quickly got back onto her feet, plunging into the future like that. _How strong_. He couldn't help but admire the child's resolve. A peaceful silence filled the two as they stepped out of the forest.

Once they got out, Lucy lagged a few seconds, staring at the forest behind them. "Is there anything wrong?" he watched the girl glance back at her looking at him with an odd look of awkwardness.

"Well nothing important…" she trailed off before giving him an unsure look. "I guess this is where we go separate ways. I… uhmm… I'm really thankful for all your help." She bowed a bit, her expression hidden. When she looked up, she was facing another direction, obviously avoiding his face. "So… um…" she trailed off, trying to say goodbye but found it hard to do so.

"Oh about that? I'm really bad with goodbyes. So how about this, instead of going on your own, how about coming with me?" He looked at the sky with a smile.

"With you…?"

"Yes, to a magical place." He looked at her with a smile which brought a look of wonder from the girl, a smile that he manages to coax, and another which he assumed was a combination of surprise and confusion.

"Huh? You're inviting me? You're not going senile are you?"

"No, I'm not that _old_. It exists, a place of endless magic. So… do you want to come?" he showed his palm to reach out to the girl. "It's a fun place to be."

For a minute the girl did nothing but stare at his opened hand. She closed her eyes for minute, wiped her eyes for whatever tears must have been building up at the thought of separation. She then, looked up at Gildarts trying the biggest smile she had, putting her small hands into his. "I don't really get what you're saying but since you helped me out, I'll come with you then."

Gildarts laughed.

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Later, Gildarts asked a question, a question that Lucy didn't know would change her entire life.

"Hey Lucy, do you think fairy have tails or not?"

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**AN:** End of Chapter three. Actually, shall we end the story here and now? The end. Thank you for reading the story!

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**Of course not. I'm kidding of course.** The story is far from over. Did you like the how the chapter ended? I left you no suspense this time. Of course, this is fairy tail so you just have to end the chapter like this.

I have a lot of questions left hanging at the end. What happened to Natsu? Just what did really happen to Lucy? What was this thing Gildarts had to do at the forest? Really, what's up with that forest? The answers are things to be discovered as you read the future chapters. Chapter four's on the way.

How do you like it so far? Love it? Annoyed that there's still no nalu? Tell me what you think. Good or bad? Was my grammar okay? Critiques, comments and suggestions are all welcome.

Logging out

KaUiA


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fairy Tail.

**Author's notes:** How's everyone doing? I'm really happy people love this story. Chapter four has finally arrived. I give you one Fairy Tail chapter. It came out a tad earlier than I expected.

_For my reviewers_, thank you for your words, I'm happy you feel this way after reading the story. I hope you guys enjoy reading it more. I struggled with this chapter for a bit but loved every bit of writing it.

**Anon: **Sorry that the suspense is killing you but that part has yet to come. Maybe a chapter or so, Natsu might possibly make an appearance. As far as reunion goes and what happens, *that's a secret*. You're going to have to bear it and read it.

**Donna: **Lucy is a brave one isn't she. I hope you'll like this chapter too! ^_^

**MishaArsellecLune**: Here's the update you've been waiting for. I hope you'll like it!

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And so! I present to you, chapter four of Twist in time.

Enjoy!

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"This is the magical place you've been talking about?"

"Yeah. Fairy Tail." In front of the two was a massive building consisting of three floors and incorporating several architectonic styles with its entrance a sign called Fairy Tail hanging above.

"Let's go in then." Gildarts came in first, Lucy following in a tow, grasping the back of his coat. She gulped, nervous at the prospect of meeting people- mages, no less.

Her mouth opened in a silent awe, her eyes widened with wonder at the sight. It was magical, exactly how she imagined it as Gildarts told her before.

There were various tables with mages all over the places. Some, if not most, used magic as they went on with their business; talking, eating, laughing, playing, and more. There was a board where various pieces of papers which she assumed to be requests were posted. Some mages were standing in front of it, no doubt choosing which job to take. Some if not most, held an appearance that would stood out in a crowd. For example, there was a strange kid wearing a body-suit, his body in a strange position, was that dancing? A little girl with straight but short platinum hair was laughing, teasing a half-dressed kid but would transform from one thing to another. There was also this kid that ran so fast, her eyes couldn't believe it. Then there was this brown haired girl, with a bottle of wine on her right hand, cards on the table with another person looking at the girl nervously with expectation. Was she doing fortune telling? Amazing.

"I'm back everyone!" Gildarts loud voice brought her out of her musings to hear everyone look at him for a second, their face silent for a second. Suddenly, smiles erupted with an onslaught of cheerful welcome, approaching him, adult and children alike stopping whatever they had been doing before.

"Ah, you're back!"

"How's the job?"

"Did you break any hearts during the job?"

"You sure took your sweet time." People rushed to talk to him, teasing, challenging, and daring; welcoming him openly to which Gildarts just grinned and replied happily.

"Hey there Dad." One of the kids say, the one with the brown hair in a orange dress with a flush on her face speaking with a soft smile.

"Yeah, I've returned! Cana, my cute darling little daughter!" he said cheerfully with a silly goofy grin no adult should have as he wrapped his arms around her, carrying her off the ground.

"Stupid Dad, let go of me." Cana tried to push him away, embarrassment flowing in her eyes at the scene he's making, though she had a small smile that she couldn't fight off to which the other guild members just _awe_ at the cuteness of the father and daughter reunion.

Gildarts abruptly stopped, his face holding an odd expression as he leaned his face closed to Cana only a few inches away, making the little girl shriek, trying to push his face away. "Gah, what's up with you, you creepy old man!"

"You've been drinking again haven't you?" he said, his tone not that was to reprimand but that of stating a fact.

"So what if I am?" she raised one of her eyebrows as to challenge mimicking the same expression his father had when he challenged another person.

"My daughter's really cute, isn't she?" He grinned proudly at his guild mates.

Everyone just gaped at his reaction. "You're suppose to lecture her not congratulate her!" The father seemed not to have heard anything but just let the girl down ruffling her head, annoying her more with a smile.

"Uh, is there someone behind you?" Gray couldn't help but interrupt the moment, noticing a strange little thing that moved while everyone was busy fussing over Gildarts

There was a huge "Eeep!" then.

"Oh, you're right. There was someone there." another one said

"Where?"

"You know, earlier when he came but…"

"Someone?" Gildarts asked but then widened his eyes in realization, remembering something important. "AH! That reminds me." Gildarts snapped his fingers to look behind him, scratching his head. "She's supposed to be around here somewhere." He mumbled, looking at a certain place which he seemed to think that was where someone was supposed to be, only to find an empty space.

"Someone?"

"Another woman?"

"Can't be." Someone shook his head.

"A lover?"

"With Cana. He wouldn't."

"Impossible." There was a monotonous sound of agreement.

"But there's no one else to fit the bill."

"No, there is."

"I think I saw someone earlier."

"_Think?_"

"Where?"

"I think it's that girl." Cana pointed out, looking at a certain direction.

"A girl?" someone said incredulously.

"So he did bring a woman with him."

"Think it's a fling?"

"Didn't we just agree it wasn't a woman?"

"Want to bet?"

Gray sighed at the adults' straying conversation while Gildarts, on the other hand was still looking around for whoever he had supposedly brought along. A blue haired girl, Levy was looking at the doors. He could see Cana was staring at the door too. Gray, too shifted his eyes as well to the doors, wondering what was so interesting there.

"There's someone at the door." Someone pointed out.

"Eep" a panicked sound was heard. There it was; big chocolate brown eyes, blonde hair was visible at the door.

"At the door?" someone asked.

The thing at the door hid itself at being seen leaving only small hands to be seen gripping the door.

"At the door?" Gildarts then looked at the door. "Ah… so that's where you were. What are you doing? Come here." The man said with both hands to the waist, a big grin on his face.

"Ummm…" her eyes shifted Gildarts, still not moving an inch. Everyone was now focused at the door.

Then a red haired child, Erza, went and passed Gildarts, going to the door and pulling the person's hand, revealing the mystery person.

"AHhhh!" she shut her eyes, surprised at the sudden pull, looked at Erza first, then at everyone shyly. If there was one thing to describe her, it would be cute. She was a blond haired child, looked about ten or so. Her hair went passed her shoulders with one side pony making her even cuter. Dressed in a shirt, she wore jean shorts that reached before her knees; there was a belt too, with keys on a key ring hanging at one of her belt loops while a white scaly scarf hanged around her neck with brown traveling boots that reached up her mid calf to finish the look.

"I met her during my job, helped me out a bit. I thought I'd bring her here." Gildarts explained to everyone, and then looked at the little girl whose everyone's attention was into. "Come on, introduce yourself." He urged.

The blonde looked at Gildarts then to everyone, shaking with nervousness at the attention being given to her. "I'm… Lucy. It's nice to meet you all!" she shouted but was a bit shaky, bowing a bit. When she raised her head to look at them, she gave another eep, closing her eyes tightly while grasping her scarf with both hands to cover half of her face.

There was a few seconds of silence that surrounded the place, as the new comer half-opened her eyes at everyone and the others just looked at the girl, an odd look crossing their faces.

"SO CUTE!" suddenly everyone screamed, making the little girl yelp in surprise.

"Thank you… I think." She answered shyly, if anything, afraid, clearly not understanding what their reaction signified.

Gildarts smiled at Lucy, and walked deeper into the guild. "Do play with her; I need to talk to Master for a bit." He waved his hand, oblivious at the little blonde girl's look of nervousness and failed attempts to stop him, obviously didn't want to be alone with… the crowd of people.

Then again the guild didn't give her time to worry about it when they bombarded her with attention that barely gave her time to think.

"Does that mean you're a mage?"

"You're here to join?"

"That's amazing."

"So young and working, very admirable, I approve."

Lucy watched the chatter in front of her, opening her mouth to speak, trying to dissolve whatever conclusions they have only she couldn't as another one would state a completely different matter that needed to be corrected.

"Stop it; you guys are making her nervous!"

"You need to be nicer."

"Well your face is too scary to be nice."

"That's the pot calling the kettle."

"Ummm…" Lucy looked worried at the two who were caught thick with tension.

"Nice? You're the definition of rudeness." Laughter rang out, someone whooping with the insult.

"Looks like he got you there dude."

"What did you just say?"

Lucy glance at the mages, her features filled with worry.

"You're a rude guy who knows nothing about being nice."

"You trying to pick a fight?" his tone was that of a challenging.

"Bring it on!"

"Ummm… Please don't fight because of me." The little blonde said softly, but was ignored as they just continued on like they didn't hear her.

"Oooh, that looks fun! Let me join too!" Another said cheerfully which made the Lucy gape at the guy in surprise, wondering if her ears were working properly, her nervousness slowly ebbing away replaced with another emotion. There was something seriously wrong with this picture.

"Let's bet then!"

"Bet?" Lucy's eyes widened, asking absentmindedly, confusion all over her face as she watched mages, not really involved, join the fight as well.

"This is a festival! Prepare the food!" another shouted over, others cheering at the prospect of food.

"A festival? Party?" Lucy spoke with an incredulous voice, cocked her head to one side, not following what was happening. Was this place crazy?

"Ah… ah… They're at it again." Gildarts daughter looked at the group with slight annoyance.

"Adults have always been stupid." The half dressed boy commented.

"Shouldn't someone stop them?" Lucy couldn't help but ask, waving her arms frantically, pointing at the fight, her nervousness disappearing, more focused on other things. After all, didn't she cause this- racket?

"Nah, it's okay. It happens all the time." A white haired girl with a smirk spoke, her hair tied in high pony, reaching her waist, dressed in a tube and short skirt and boots commented with a funny interest in her eyes.

"So this is Fairy tail?" Lucy looked at the crazy mayhem in wonder, speechless at the sight. She really had no idea what to make out of the situation. It didn't make any sense. She didn't even think if there were any words that she could use to describe it.

"Yup! Did you come here to join?" another little girl with a white bobbed hair, wearing a pink dress, looked at her with her blue eyes in curiosity.

"Umm… Gildarts told me all about fairy tail… and brought me along and he said that I…well I'm not really here to join yet but… uhmm…" Lucy babbled, waving her arms off, surprise evident at the question fired at her, unsure what to answer.

"Well, there's cake inside, come." The pretty red-haired girl who pulled her earlier once again pulled her again inside, not really listening to anything she was saying.

"Wait a minute I'm not here to-and that- I just-uh was told to come see it for myself!" Lucy finished with a soft blush though the red haired girl still continued to pull her along not letting her answer the other girl properly.

"Always with the cake." The white haired girl with the high pony commented with annoyance.

"What's wrong with that?" the red haired girl looked back sharply at the white haired woman, still holding Lucy.

"It's so stupid and annoying." The white haired girl flicked her hair.

A dangerous smile formed on the red-head, her grip on Lucy tightened, making the girl wince a bit.

"Mira, we never really got our last fight settled, now did we?"

"You're challenging me? You've got guts. Interesting." The one called Mira just smiled with a dangerous glint, preparing a battle stance.

"Mira-nee, fighting again?" the one with pink dress asked, not approving at what was going to happen.

"Bring it on!" the red-haired girl let go of Lucy who ran over to the others at the side, not wanting to get caught in between, and watched the fight between the two girls.

"You'll like it here in Fairy tail. It's fun to be here!" the blue haired girl said happily to Lucy, oblivious to the rumble between the two girls.

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"You're back!" a short old man at the bar counter waved happily at Gildarts.

"Yeah, there's no place like home!" he replied the same, sitting on one of the stools, digging into his plate.

"Looks like you brought a souvenir. She's really something." The old man said, looking at the cause of the guild's current mess.

"Ah! You mean Lucy? Yeah, I found her while doing my job. Cute girl isn't she? A mage too, at the same time."

"I noticed. She'll definitely become an attractive girl someday." The old man gave a perverted laugh.

"That I'm sure of but I think she'll scare them off. It'll take someone strong to tame her." Gildarts laughed, as he saw her along with the other kids.

"Celestial magic huh?" the master murmured quietly.

"Ah master?"

" Right. I received your report." He said with a relaxed face, like he already knew what Gildarts had to say. "Later… go to my office. We'll discuss it in detail and… there's also something I want you to take care of." He said tapping his chin, thinking but his expression gave no implication of what his thoughts were.

"Right…I guess, I'll finish this first then!" he pointed to his meal.

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After a few hours of being at the office with Fairy Tail's guild master, Gildarts came down to see most adults unconscious, no doubt from the party and the fight. Some were still happily laughing around despite the mess the state the guild turned into. He could see Lucy facing Gray, half dressed as always. Her form of shyness and nervousness, all gone and was somewhat glaring at him. He could see some taking sides, cheering. Were they fighting?

"What's with the scarf? It's in the middle summer you know." Gray said.

"Even if it's hot, it makes no sense for a person to be half-naked all the time. What are you, a weird exhibitionist?"

Gray gave an expression of confusion at her last word. "Exhibi-what! Don't ignore my question!" He pointed at her.

"You're on a different level. Even if I was wearing a scarf, I'm not wearing multiple layers of clothing. It's just one scarf."

As if her words were on cue, he immediately let out a surprised yelp. "Dammit, what happened to my clothes!" he then looked around in impatience, having only noticed that his clothes were missing.

"You weren't even wearing that much to begin with."

"What the heck!" He looked at her with a glare making Lucy wince a little. Trying not to be daunted by him, she eyed him suspiciously, a small frown marring her face. "What? Do you have anything to say?"

"Lend me your underwear."

"No way. Get your own." Lucy turned and let out a hmph sound, sitting on her previous seat, her body language intent on ignoring the half dressed kid.

"Why you!" he glared at the little girl, annoyance all over him, ready to pounce at the girl any second except he saw Erza glaring at him at the corner of his eye.

"I see your getting along just fine." A new voice spoke stopping whatever fight was close to erupting.

"Gildarts!" people greeted in chorus.

"Just where did you pick up this weirdo?" Gray complained.

"A guy who always strips clothes has no right to call me a weirdo. Wait… maybe stripping is your fetish or something." Lucy said without looking at anyone but at the food she was eating.

"Why you…" Gray wringed his hands, silently seething.

Gildarts laughed.

"You have to admit, Lucy beat you there Gray." Lisanna said, half-way resting her body at the table while looking at Lucy with interest.

His daughter just looked at him and then at the crowd with a mysterious smile of interest.

"So how do you find the guild so far?" he asked, knowing that Lucy was listening despite how she was behaving.

"It's really weird and funny. I don't really understand what you wanted for me to see here but" Lucy paused, looking at the old man ignoring Gray's glare. "… but I think I'll stay for a while." a grin coming out of her features.

"Isn't she a cutie?" Lisanna said to no one particular but was looking at Gray who was blushing a little at seeing Lucy's smile.

"That's great! So does that mean you're joining?" Levy asked happily. The two, he could see, had formed a bond instantly. He had a suspicion; the books on the table had something to do with it. He remembered the girl's eyes when they passed by a bookstore earlier. It was an unnatural morbid fascination.

"Well…" Lucy rubbed the back of her head, a soft blush on her features.

"Oh that's great! What kind of magic do you use?"

Lucy looked surprise, unsure how to answer, having not really decided to join but the people had it in their head that she was already part of the group.

"Never mind that. I'll show you around! You're new right?" Levy asked.

"I'm sure Gray wants to. I think he has a crush on you." Lisanna said teasingly with a smile.

"What! I do not. Don't make up stuff!" Gray said, though he was facing away, hiding a blush on his cheeks.

"I'll show you around too. I want to help." A boy, white haired dressed in a suit flashing a smile, his voice very gentle and mellow, opposite of Mira's.

"That sounds fun. I'll join as well." Erza said.

"Well looks like there's no need to worry. I'll just be going then, I have some things to do. Cana…" Gildarts he started though no other words were needed as his daughter just gave him this soft smile that told him she knew what he wanted her to do. Lucy was to stay with them. He ruffled most of the kids head, walking away.

Lucy looked at Gildarts oddly then shook her head before replying to the other kids.

"Looks like this generation will be something out of this world in years to come." A man with blue hair said from another table eying the children with interest.

"Who knows, I'm betting they'll make this guild into something unpredictable."

"Don't say something crazy! You'll jinx it!"

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_After a day had gone by...  
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"Look, look at this!" Lucy said cheerfully as she suddenly ran towards where Lisanna, Levy and the others were chatting along.

"What's wrong Lu-chan?" Levy stopped at what she was reading, and then looked at the girl with interest.

"Lu-chan?" Lucy asked with curiosity.

"Lu-chan. A nickname. It suits you."

"Oh, thanks. I'll call you Levy-chan then." Lucy's face had a blush, a smile on her lips.

"Lu-chan's so cuute." Lisanna smiled as she spoke looking at the two with a smile.

"Sooo, what's this about? Didn't you have something to say?"

"Oh, oh. _That_. Look at this!" Lucy showed her hand happily, a familiar pink insignia tattooed on it.

"Oh that's great! That means, you're Fairy Tail now!" Levy closed her book before standing to hug the girl. "Congratulations!"

"That's unfair. I want to hug too!" Lisanna said, standing up, to hug the new member.

"I believe I'll join as well." Erza said, standing up to give the new official member a hug.

"I'm not into hugs but I might as well join." Mira said with a smirk, partially not wanting Erza to get ahead of her.

"I don't know why but everyone's hugging. I'll join too. It looks fun." Cana said.

"Is this a new tradition then?"

"They're hugging."

"It looks fun."

"Might as well join." More joined to hug the girl, not even knowing the cause of it.

"Thanks you guys!" Lucy smiled, accepting the onslaught of hugs that she was getting from the others.

"I don't get the racket but you've been Fairy Tail the moment you entered the doors." Gray said as a matter of fact, sitting with a nonchalant expression, having not moved an inch as he saw the bodies of people huddled together.

"Gray…" Lucy trailed off, looking at the half-naked boy with potent eyes. "Thanks!" the girl grinned to which the ice mage just looked away with a blush but one with a smile.

"Gray, you really like Lucy huh?" Lisanna grinned mischievously at Gray beneath the hugs.

"Just leave me alone." Gray muttered.

"Lucy, you already have an admirer in the guild."

"What?" Lucy looked at Lisanna, confused at what the girl was saying, not really hearing her with the noise her new guild mates were making.

"Gray wants to hug you too but he's so shy."

"Just shut up, will you." Was only the words Gray gave.

"Oh is that all?" Lucy asked, not really realizing what the words implicated but clearly heard what Lisanna said. "Join us then!" Lucy looked at Gray with a grin her hand, weakly tried to gesture him to join as it was trapped by arms holding her down.

"Of course I will." Gray said stubbornly, finally standing up to join the moment. "It is a Fairy Tail tradition."

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_One year later_

Lucy looks at the request board, eyeing it with interest.

"Taking on another job eh?" Lisanna looked at the girl from a distance.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with it." Elfman commented, knowing it is manly to take more jobs knowing the girl's life style ever since she joined.

"But isn't it a bit unhealthy?" Levy spoke up, seeing the blond mage take another request.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean she spends most of her time working. She doesn't seem to like relaxing." Levy said worriedly.

"Doesn't she enjoy doing jobs?" Elfman said having observed how Lucy seemed to like going on missions.

"Besides…" Lisanna trailed off, leaning forward to look at Levy closely. "Weren't you two just shopping together a few days earlier?"

"That's different. Besides, she also did a job after that too. I don't think that counts. Don't you think it's odd?" Levy finished as she saw Lucy on the bar counter, having the request no doubt, approved.

"I don't think it's weird. I mean that's how she'd always been."

"Well…" Levy trailed off biting her lower lip in worry.

"Maybe you're over thinking it." Cana said with a bottle on her hands. "I mean this is Lucy we're talking about. Don't worry so much."

"How about you do a reading then?" Droy asked.

"A reading? What for?" Cana asked with mild curiosity, a little surprised with the request.

"So we can alleviate Levy-chan's worry, what else?" Jet said.

"Well… I guess nothing's wrong with that. I can't deny that I'm worried as well." Cana said after a while. The girl then put her cards on the table, no doubt doing a fortune reading.

"What are you doing?" Lucy's voice made the whole group freeze with the exception of Cana who was focused on her cards.

"Lucy? Oh nothing really." Jet and Droy said at the same time, obviously trying to cover up whatever they were doing.

"Really? It sure doesn't look nothing." Lucy said giving the two a weird look, trying to peer around them to see what strange activity there was.

"Just random fortune reading." Lisanna said that made Jet and Droy look at her with big saucer eyes, So… you're going on a job?" Lisanna asked, changing the topic with ease, the two mages giving Lisanna a relieved smile.

"Uh, yeah. I do need the cash. My rent's just around the corner." Lucy said with a friendly smile not noticing Levy's worried look. "That reminds me, I need to prepare!" Lucy said with her usual loud voice, only realizing it. "Sorry but I need to go. I'll be seeing you guys then." Lucy bowed a bit before she left, not giving her friends a chance to reply as the mage left the guild in a hurry.

"Well, how is it Cana?" Jet's voice snapped the others out of their thoughts.

"Well…-"

"I don't really know everyone's so worried about her." Gray's voice surprised them as he came by the table.

"Gray- wear some clothes will you?" to which Gray let out a yelp, "When did that happen!" no doubt looked around to search for his clothes.

After finding his clothes, he went back to see them huddling around Cana. "I think all this attention kind of stupid, really." He said as Cana said something about Lucy's fate to the others. Levy let out a relieved air before looking at Gray with a smile which made him raise one brow.

"What?"

"Cana says you'll be closely aligned with Lucy today."

"What? That's impossible. I don't even like her." Gray snorted. He and Lucy had always been at odds with each other. His stripping habits always received Lucy's lectures to no end though sometimes she seemed to find it funny. Other than that, she usually tried to play pranks at him which were usually strangely ridiculous like trying out this potion that served to make sure his clothes wouldn't come off.

But there was also this awkwardness around the girl despite her friendliness and happy disposition. She was like Erza in a way. Something about her seemed to make it that when they were becoming too close, she would then put a wall between her and others. This hurt Levy and Lisanna a lot, seeing as the two really liked the girl. For him, it was different. It just added fury to his annoyance as she seemed not to notice a thing and acted as if she was alone.

"That's stupid."

"I would say so too but." Cana paused, giving Gray a strange mysterious smile. "My cards never lie."

Gray let out a tch. "I'm out of here."

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Somehow, Gray never liked it whenever Cana made predictions. It always ended with something he didn't want to happen.

And that's what happened as he found himself lying on the forest floor with Lucy. He didn't mean to go the East Forest. Somehow for who knows why, he ended up here. At first he planned on playing a harmless prank on the Blonde mage except things went out of control.

The monster that Lucy, no doubt was supposed to get rid of interfered. When he had spotted her, Lucy was close to getting a bad hit. So what did he do? Save her, that's all. But then the girl had the nerve to get angry at him, making him seethe in anger. After going out of his way to help her all he received was-

"You're in the way."

"Why you-"

"I could have handled it myself but then you got in my way." Lucy said as she tried to get the boy off her body. It took him a great deal of control not to lash out. She was seriously demented it wasn't funny.

The two were currently hiding from the monster as it went passed the two, not noticing them as Lucy tried to get Gray off her body with the clear intention of fighting it on. He struggled to make sure Lucy didn't cause him trouble.

"Let go, will you? Let me do the job you stupid-" He covered her mouth shut at the same time struggling to make sure she didn't move.

He gave her a hard look that spoke volumes trying to keep her from doing anything stupid to which she just ignored. After a few seconds, she ceased struggling; something Gray hoped the girl saw how futile it was of her to try and get him off if she was being like that. He wasn't going to release her if she plans to senselessly fight him head on. Doesn't she realize how enormous it was? But then Lucy did the unexpected next; crying. Always been one weak to tears especially of strong people he panicked and moved to try to comfort her.

"Look, I understand you got a job to do but you can't go charging like crazy." He said quietly as he let go of her wrists, feeling that she won't be struggling no more.

Lucy the, covered her face, hiccupping. "It's just… it's just that… I…" she would rub her tears with her hands as Gray reached to her shoulder to soothe her. "It's just… I… and you…" she sobbed. Letting his guard down a bit, his only concern was to calm her down. He didn't notice something was wrong until Lucy kicked him. HARD.

He let out a groan of pain as he fell forward to Lucy who pushed him off her.

"Gray, you're so annoying!" she flicked her hair. Her eyes held no sign of tears. Crocodile Tears! She was acting.

"Why you-"

"Just let me finish this job first will you." Lucy said with a glare sat on her knees as she looked at Gray who didn't say anything seeing as he was still hurting from where the sly stellar magician hit him.

"What job? And what are the two of you doing here, on the floor no less?" Erza's voice snapped the two whatever situation they were in.

"Erza?" the two chorused; Lucy's tone was of surprise while Grey's said her name in pain.

"Yes? Anything wrong?" She was standing in her usual armor and clothes, her red hair braided as always, and behind her was her mass of luggage carried on a cart as always.

"What are you doing here!" Gray said with surprise ignoring Lucy's "I'm the one who's supposed to be saying that."

"I'm on my way back to the guild and just passed here."

"Oh, uh- I see." Lucy trailed off before shaking her head.

"And you two?" Erza pointed. "Why are you here?"

Lucy's eyes widened with realization. "That reminds me!" Lucy suddenly stood up, brushing the dirt off before glaring at Gray. "And you- don't get in my way!"

Erza just looked confused, clearly didn't see what was wrong.

"You were close to being killed." Gray said.

"Killed? It wouldn't be if you hadn't interfered!"

"Why-you!"

The next thing the two knew was crashing onto the forest floor, feeling Lucy beside him and a familiar weight above them.

"Erza-"

He couldn't finish whatever he was saying when he heard a loud onslaught of roar. He looked up to see the familiar figure of the monster that Lucy was supposed to defeat.

He felt a sudden force push him away seeing as Lucy pushed him away. "You-"

"This time, don't get in my way. This is important to me, alright?" Lucy sent him a hard look that was unlike anything he saw before in the girl's expression.

But still-

He felt Erza's arm, forcing him not to do anything.

"Erza!"

She didn't look at him, only stared at Lucy's figure that ran towards the monster. "This is something she needs to do. As such, we cannot interfere."

"But-"

"No buts- Gray. We must respect her wishes. And if what I'm thinking is correct- we also must let her realize her mistakes." Gray widened his eyes at the words Erza gave. Erza, that girl… She knew- she knew how risky it would be for Lucy to fight the damn thing but still-

"Then isn't it more we should do something before that girl-" he was seeing stars then. Erza punched him.

"Just watch."

With no choice left, that's what they did. They watched Lucy get kicked, cough out blood, her groans of pain, doing nothing but watch her.

"Erza!"

"We can't!" Erza had an arm, preventing him from interfering. Gray struggled, how could he just watch someone get hurt like but immediately stopped at seeing Erza as well, clenching her fingers. She also wanted to help but chose not to. And Erza said something that stopped him from doing anything else.

"You must understand, this is her fight, not yours or mine." His eyes widened in realization. They also had to accept that Lucy was also a mage of Fairy Tail who took this job knowing the risks. Like him, the red haired mage seem to also get how ridiculous it was for the girl to take a solo mission like this on her own without help but she was Fairy Tail.

They watched as she summoned her spirits, fight her way along with them to defeat the enemy. By the end of the fight, Lucy was exhausted but still conscious.

Silently, Lucy walked towards them, smiling a little as she did though there was conflict in her eyes as she did so. "I need to go to the client, inform that I finished subduing that one." Lucy said silently, a hint of an emotion in her features that made him chill, reminding him of a face that knew so well.

It was the same _face_ as him, an expression that haunted him that he saw many times. It was his face that he didn't like to see, a face that reflected his own when Deloria-

"We'll come with you then, since we have nothing to at the moment. Right Gray?" He snapped out of his musings as Erza looked at him then to Lucy with a light nod.

"Right." Gray replied in return critically eyeing Lucy.

Then the next thing he knew was a strong wind, a flash of movement so fast, he didn't even notice Lucy flying off, and hitting the tree she was thrown into.

What happened?

Then he saw it. The monster was still alive. What the- how was that possible? He was sure Lucy knocked it enough to kill it.

He saw it looking at Lucy in a rage that it hadn't before. The girl let out a grunt of pain as she struggled to move only that she couldn't. This was bad.

He had to move. Fast!

He prepared his hands. "Erza, it's fine, isn't it?" he asked, his magic easily flowing out.

Lucy let out a scream as its large hands tightened around her small body.

The girl gave a smile, giving a brief nod as she moved to a sprint giving him a sign that it was okay for him to use magic.

"Distract him so I can get to Lucy."

"Sure. Ice-make: Gattling gun!" It wasn't large as he expected but it will have to do. He then fired his magic, hitting the monster in a matter of seconds making the monster growl in pain as Erza used the momentum to get Lucy.

The monster easily ripped the ice that covered him earlier and was now looking at him, its eyes red with rage but at the same time it was…

"There's something wrong with that monster." Erza mumbled as it went after Gray as she had laid Lucy on a safe place where she wouldn't get caught in a fight.

"Er…za." Lucy's voice made her look at the younger girl.

"This job requires to do team up with someone right? I don't know what you did to convince them to do this on your own but" Erza paused, stood up, looking at the enemy as Gray hit it with another dose of his attack. The girl clenched her jaw. "We'll save the details for later."

Lucy must have taken the job though she might have been warned not to do this on her own. It was one of those missions that was priced lower but with a request with an undeniably hard job, not meant for. The girl probably didn't think through the mission hard enough when she chose to do it.

"I… I…" Lucy's voice called onto Erza and she watched her friend weakly tried to reach her hands towards Erza, not really seeing anything clearly. "I need… to, no matter what." She narrowed her eyes at Lucy's state. The girl had obviously exhausted herself beyond her limit. She most likely out of magic making her a bad target and those injuries of hers wasn't exactly good.

"… because I promised him… I promised… him…" was the only thing Lucy said as tears formed in her eyes, half-choking her words before losing consciousness with her eyes closing and fingers falling to the ground.

"Lucy…" Erza trailed off before looking at Gray as he got thrown away towards the forest floor. She summoned her sword. The monster's movement, while it was still strong it was much weaker. Lucy had already weakened it. Erza ran towards it, her body holding every intention on destroying the monster.

Dealing with the client will be after the monster's killed. For now, she and Gray should end this monster that hurt Lucy.

Quickly preparing to fight, she gave a barrage of attacks. "Gray, get up!" She rolled out of the way as it tried to hit her.

"Ghh… Erza…" the boy in question struggled to stand up as Erza avoided one of its massive magic.

"Get up! This monster is close to death. Help me deal with it!" then Erza summoned a bunch of swords preparing for another wave of attack.

"Right, right." Gray, though weak, put his hands together as prepared to use magic.

"It won't last that much longer. Let's end this!"

"Got it."

With that, the two used their magic surprisingly killing it easilyy with the last wave of attack. It fell with a large thud with Gray giving the monster a surprised look.

"What the-"

"It was already weak enough. It was only a matter of time before it died. Lucy must have damaged it internally." Erza said as she walked where Lucy was.

"I see." Gray answered as he followed the girl. "But it was strangely strong, don't you think so?" Gray said as Erza gestured for him to carry Lucy.

"That's because it's not a request for a solo."

"What do you mean?"

"It's one of those missions where most likely, the client is probably poor and the class of this type of request, not meant for one person to handle alone." Erza said as she went towards where her cart of luggage were.

"So… that means…"

"Yeah, you could say, this job is not only worth the price it had. Probably, twice the price. But I'm still surprised with how Lucy handled it." Erza mused. Gray silently agreed. The girl was able to fight it that way, bringing him to death on her own. It wasn't like they did much. All they did was hasten the pace.

"So where to now? It's not like we know who her client is. The guild? The hospital?"

"We're going where her client is."

"But how?"

"Lucy of course. That girl will most likely awake when we get out of here." Gray nodded, accepted this. Lucy would seem stubborn enough to prefer going to where the client was.

Once, the three were out of the forest, Gray felt Lucy stir awake.

"What-where?"

"Good, you're awake. We're out of the forest by the way."

"The monster?"

"Already dead. You rammed it good." Then the next thing he knew was pain as he felt Lucy kick him hard.

"What the heck was that for!" Gray was on his bum though all Lucy did was knock him to the ground.

"Don't lie to me! You defeated it, right?" Lucy breathed heavily with a heavy glare as she struggled to stand and be awake.

Erza just stood at the side watching the two's interaction.

"I didn't. You did. It was already on the verge of death when it hit you to knock you out. I really didn't do anything." Gray answered as he stood up, brushing off any dirt he had.

"Don't be stupid! I don't need your pity!" Lucy looked away in ager, tears of frustration on her eyes. "I wasn't strong enough that's all."

"What on earthland are you yapping about? I'm not pitying you."

"It's no good if it's like this." Lucy said, one of her hands holding the scarf, covering half of her face, glaring hard with _that_ face he held before he left to fight Deloria only to get Ur killed.

"You're not making any sense."

"Just leave me alone. This has nothing to do with you." She didn't look at him making him feel nothing but angrier at the moment. She almost died and all she could talk about was her frustration at not defeating the monster. Where did her rage stem from? He couldn't understand her reasons but just knew how she felt. Was this how Ur felt whenever he pestered her to properly teach him magic, whenever he insisted on going after Deloria?

Someone needed to fix this girl and he'll knock it into her. He couldn't let such a thing-happen again but at the same time he needed to make her see.

"No, I won't. This has gone long enough." He said in anger remembering Levy's worry. Lucy, for a year, spent most of her time working to the bone, not taking care of herself. She was so selfish. She did as she pleased, getting close to people but never letting them in, pushing them away once they were too close to her liking, acting as if she was alone At times, she went as far as ignoring everyone at the guild when they would attempt to get close to her even though she tried to shut people out. He grasped Lucy's scarf, giving it a strong yank, making her face his way.

"What are you talking about?" she spoke silently like whatever he was about to say didn't matter at all.

"I'm talking about you, that stupid and selfishness of yours." Lucy grasped his hands that were holding her, trying to pry his fingers though it didn't work, his hands were frozen still at holding her.

"I don't get how any of this is relevant. It's my business what I do in my time and what I do with my life." Her bangs covered her eyes, preventing him from seeing any expression she had.

_She can't be serious._ He took a full swing hitting the girl as she fell to the ground.

"What was that for!" Lucy rubbed one of her hands to her cheek Gray hit her with.

"You still don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?" Lucy looked at him with in confusion before fire went to her eyes as she jumped at him, bringing the guy to the floor. "You're the one who doesn't know anything!"

"Really like what? Why don't you elaborate, you bitch?" he said with glare, his back on the floor, Lucy, on top of him.

"A promise…" She started softly. "I made a promise to him and I won't let someone like you interfere!" she gave him a punch, her eyes flowing with tears.

"A promise?" he gave a laugh. "How stupid. That person was stupid." Then Lucy went give Gray another punch.

"Don't you dare call it stupid!" Another punch. "You have no right!" She was weak from the fight so her punches didn't hurt that much. He let her punched him, let her words of anger hit him, knowing that she needed to let it out. Those emotions must have been always been trapped deep within, controlling her, making it her only reason for almost everything. She punched him until it slowly weakened, losing the force behind it, its reasoning, the anger disappearing as it was replaced with another emotion.

"He's not stupid! A punch. "It's… not stupid…" another punch, one that was shaking badly.

"It is when you go around destroying yourself." Gray said, her tears suddenly falling to his chest, her eyes wide. She probably didn't even realize the pain she was in.

"It's not." Her words were softer.

"It is. I wouldn't even call that person your friend if you're like this." He watched as the girl glared at him, tears flowing, her fist stopping mid-air at his words, her whole body was shaking still, her mouth, forcing itself to shut, not willing to speak, and eyes glistering with emotion.

He pushed her off, leaving her in a sitting position, her legs bent and spread as he half-knelt, putting his hands on her head, the gesture making the girl widen her eyes at the feel of his hand. "It's stupid the way your handling this promise of yours." He ruffled her hair a bit. "All I'm saying is, you don't have to deal with it alone. Fairy Tail's here. You're Fairy Tail which means your life isn't just your business. It's also ours and everyone else's just like ours is also yours." He gave it another pat before standing up as he walked passed Erza. "Just think about what I said, will you? After all, we're all nakama." He gave a small wave as he walked ahead, leaving the two girls.

_Don't go there Lucy. Don't become like me._ Those were Gray's thoughts as he left hoping that his words got into her.

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The next few days, he didn't see Lucy coming to the guild.

"Lucy hasn't come to the guild recently? I wonder what happened." Levy said with a slump

"I heard she got a little ruffled up during her last job." Jet said.

"Gray don't you know anything? You were with her that day, right?" Cana said after another gulp of her beer.

"I have no idea what you people are talking about." Gray said, looking at another direction, his face, flat on the table. He heard that Erza went ape-shit on Lucy's client for making withholding some important facts about the job getting twice the money. About Lucy however, Erza didn't say anything.

"_If you want to see her that badly, why don't you visit her?" Erza's voice echoed._

It wasn't an option he was willing to take. Not now… He wasn't even sure how Lucy reacted to his words, and he, in particular didn't really know what do next about her. Girls had always been complicated.

Hs thoughts were then interrupted when the guild doors revealed a familiar shadow of a girl.

It was Lucy.

"Oh, Lucy you're back!"

He didn't hear anything but Lucy's silent steps as he saw her going to the request board taking a random request, not even looking at which one she picked as she strode towards him. She slammed it on the table.

"Gray!"

He turned his head to look at Lucy who gave him a glare.

"What?"

Did she even listen to him days ago? Is she planning on another job just as soon as she recovered?

"You and me! After three days, we're taking this job! Got it?" Lucy didn't wait for his reply as she turned towards where Levy and the others were. She didn't say much but pretty much took Levy and Lisanna's arms off the table, surprising the others. She had never been so forceful before. Just what happened?

"I need your help guys. Come shopping with me!" Her voice was unnaturally strong making Levy and Lisanna look at each other with strange looks.

"Uh… sure Lu-chan." Levy said quietly looking at Lucy in confusion.

"It's fine with me." Lisanna said slowly wondering what was up with Lucy. She was acting so bizarre.

"But what are we shopping for anyway?" Levy couldn't help but ask the quiet Lucy.

"Well… Girl time that's what" Lucy grinned with a slight blush suddenly making the two taken back. She usually avoided the two when they invited her to do something like this. What changed? They didn't get to find out as she suddenly moved where Gray was, kicking him. Hard. He went flying towards one of the walls as people scrambled out of the way.

"Lu…cy?" Lisanna looked at the girl in confusion as the blond mage ignored anything that was said as she walked towards them with a wide grin she never showed before, and grasping their elbows at the same time.

"What was that for!" Gray said, recovering from the surprise kick.

Lucy turned to look at Gray and…

"Bleh!" She took her tongue out. "That was for what you did the other day." She gave a laugh as she went, taking Lisanna and Levy's arm, not giving them the chance to react about today's bipolar attitude.

"Lu-chan?" Levy looked at the girl in confusion as the three stepped out of the guild, not looking back as she did so.

Gray, looked at the fallen request Lucy set for them to take, then at the Guild's door where Lucy stood a while ago.

_She had a very soft smile no one ever saw before. It made her look like she was shining. Her mouth opened, forming one word, and then letting out a grin he never saw her let out since she joined._

"_Thanks." Were her words._

Really, she was one heck of a silly girl. Then again, she was Fairy Tail. He couldn't help but let out a grin and laugh.

"There's really something wrong with that generation." Someone said from a table, his mouth open with wonder.

"Don't you think it's something to worry about, Master?"

"Not really, they just have different ways of expressing themselves. I wouldn't worry." Makarov, Fairy Tail's guild master said with a smile.

"Really, I just feel like this guild's going to turn nutty after a few years."

"You're overreacting."

He just didn't know how wrong he was, that Fairy Tail would become something that would shake the world to its core.

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**AN**: End of Chapter four. Finally done! Such a long chapter but I enjoyed writing it! I played around with this chapter a bit seeing as I didn't exactly plan this chapter to be written. There was so much I wanted to write but just couldn't write too much, right? How do you like it? Good or bad? Was the grammar fine? Critiques, comments and suggestions are welcome.

Logging out

KaUiA


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fairy Tail.

**Author's notes:** How's everyone doing? I'm surprised how much people loved my other story, _A Dagon's Beloved One. _Anyway~ chapter five has finally arrived and I must apologize for it being short. I still hope you'll love it.

I know everyone wants to see _Natsu_ make an appearance but I've told you at the beginning that even if he came, he won't be the lovable Natsu you all know in the manga. I'll write him to be different. Expect it. He'll be different, completely ooc, _**really different**_, nothing like at the beginning of the story. BUT - I'll stop now, saying more will spoil the story too much. I'd love to tell you but that'll ruin the surprise. Just read and you'll find out.

_For my reviewers_, thank you for supporting my story. Your words really mean a lot to me and have this magic touch of getting me out of my slump when I'm stuck. You guys are very motivating. Thank you so much! Of course, the same could be said for those who read my story. Don't be shy about what you think of telling me what you think about my story.

And so! I present to you, chapter five of Twist in time.

Enjoy!

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Lucy fell with a light thud at the bar counter, sighing as she gazed at nothing emitting a strong aura of depression.

"My, my." Mira smiled softly at the depressed figure of the blonde mage who looked like she'd been run over by a train over and over again.

"Oh… hi Mira." She gave a small wave, turning to smile with her still head resting on the bar counter.

"My, what happened? What's troubling you?" the take-over mage asked with her usual motherly gusto as she was cleaning up some glass wines.

"Nah. Lushy's just depressed 'coz the rumor about Salamander being in Hargeon was fake." A small blue feline answered.

"Salamander? You mean the rumored flame mage that was said to destroy everything in its path, leaving nothing behind.

"Yup that Salamander." Happy finished with a bite. "But Lucy's more depressed about the complaint she got from the magic council."

"My, I heard all about it. Lucy sent a ship flying, destroying half the port in the process, right? I got the report earlier."

"Please don't talk about it! I don't really want to hear about it! My pay already got cut off and then there was that Salamander who was just some stupid pervert and a faker and… and… ahhh those Miliary jerks!" ruffling her hair with both hands, just wanting to forget the whole thing.

"Sounds like you went through quite the ordeal. How about some food then? I have a new recipe prepared. I'll go prepare it now if you want." Mira asked.

"Oh really Mira? You're such a saint!" immediately, she was revived, knowing if there's anything she knew, Mira's food always did the trick to get her out of her slump.

"Then I'll go prepare it! I'm sure you'll love it." The girl then turned t the kitchen to whip out the food.

"Lucy, you're just going to get fatter. You should try dieting." The feline said so innocently.

"Shut up you stupid cat! And I'm not fat! And why are you here again!" she hit the cat with a loud thump on his head.

"Lushy's being a mean bully again! I came here to play with you too!" Happy cried.

"It's LUCY! We've known each other for years and yet why can't you call me by my name properly…" she all but grumbled silently. Happy was a strange talking cat, well a race called exceed that often came for the reasons of bugging Lucy, eating Mira's food since he claimed Fairy Tail had tasty fish though it wasn't a restaurant, and the fact that he keeps on trying to charm Charle, a pretty white exceed who belonged to the guild.

"Well… I for starters don't think your mission went badly. In fact, it sounds amazing. Killing two birds with one stone, as expected of Lucy." A male voice spoke, dressed in his boxers as he sat at one of the tables close to the bar counter.

"Just how exactly is it amazing?" Lucy glared.

"Well… how is it not? Not only did you confirm the fake rumor…" he paused, gulping a bit at Lucy's glare. "But you beat up Bora the Prominence and did it bang, destroying the port at the same time. You should give yourself a job well done."

"Bora the Prominence? Who's that? Just how did you know all of that anyway?" she asked, not really understanding how the news could have gotten ahead all the way to Magnolia that fast. That just happened a day ago.

"Oh you didn't know? Lucy, you're a top celebrity in today's news. Amazing, right everyone?" another woman spoke, with a barrel between her legs.

"Something tells me I don't really want to know more." She said with a dead panned voice to which her guild mates just gave a large cheer.

"In fact, we should have a celebration!"

"Wait_what the hell? Please don't!" Lucy blushed embarrassed at what was happening.

"Oh I'll prepare the drinks then!"

"Bless you Kinana."

"This is seriously getting out of hand." Lucy piped silently.

"Nah, you should celebrate too. Take a look at this Lu-chan!" a petite blue haired mage hugged the girl in the chaos, holding the weekly Sorcerer's Magazine. "Look at the page! It has you on it!" the blue haired mage flipped to a page which made the blonde shriek. It was a two-page news which featured her recent endeavor, a clear picture of a half destroyed port, people unconscious and her picture… ugh… wearing a white bikini of all things.

"Oh, it looks amazing, Lucy." Another one said.

"Damn, bunny girl's starting to usurp us. Bunny girl, fight me!" Gajeel, a dark haired man with nasty piercings shouted with a challenging pose, ready to fight.

"Why do I have to fight you!" Lucy all but cried.

"This is interesting. I guess I'll join in. This looks fun." Gray said, his hands ready to cast magic.

"Love rival! Today, I'll defeat you!" Juvia, a water mage glared at her.

"Why me!" Lucy wailed.

"Did you say fight? 'Coz if a fight is what you want then, I should be here, for a fight between men is manly." another man said with a towering tall figure, Elfman, his white hair upped in long wavy spikes, and dressed in a hooligan way.

"I'm a woman you know." Lucy grumbled with clear annoyance in her face wondering why he always kept on challenging her, implicating that she was a man when she's actually a woman.

"Looks like something big is starting again. I'll join too, though I don't know what's really happening." Another one said.

Before she knew it fists started flying, magic was being casted here and there, people occasional flew over, the guild was once again in its usual chaos. She saw Cana getting people to bet before joining the fray herself.

"It's all Lucy's fault." Happy said, one of his paws rose up as she and Lucy were on one of the barricading tables so as not to get caught in the fight.

"Did you think I want this?"

"But Fairy tail isn't fairy tail without this, right?" he piped honestly still eating a fish happily.

"I guess…" she trailed off forgetting whatever inhabitance she had, her mouth softening to a smile at the warm sight of its usual craziness.

"Lucy, you have such a creepy smile."

"Just leave me alone." Lucy cried, couldn't she have at least a moment there?

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When afternoon came, the guild had already toned down though it was in a state of haphazardness. People were either unconscious or sleeping. Lucy herself did the latter and just woke up now. There could have been guest for all they know and no one's awake. Visiting had always been a big no for the guild was known for being rambunctious, rowdy, and crazy. It is the reason why people, clients who came personally would come, need to inform the guild of coming notice was there.

Stretching her arms out, it was only then that she saw the familiar figure of Erza sitting on the barstool, eating a slice of a cake or rather what you would call a quarter of a cake in which no one ever bothers to tell her otherwise. Tell her that she's eating a cake that's too big for her would end render a person unconscious, a fact that Elfman dared to try, that prompted people to never dare to talk to her about cakes. Dusting the dirt off, she moved to approach her when she saw some humongous horn-like figure by the door-wait, was it decorated with jewelries?

As if Erza sensed it, the armored mage spoke. "That's the horn I got from my last mission."

"I do get that but why bring the horn?" Lucy couldn't help but ask.

"Souvenir. The villagers were so happy about the job I did that they decorated and gave it to me." The woman answered as she ate half-way through her cake.

"Oh… I see". To Lucy, it made little sense. She then concluded Erza must have really liked the horn. Letting out a sigh, she made her way where Erza was, avoiding stepping over the unconscious bodies of her guild mates before sitting next to the woman. She rested her head on her arms o the table observing Erza finish her cake only to order another one from Mira who was actually awake, something that failed to surprise her.

While waiting for her next slice of cake, Erza fished something out of her pockets and laid it on the bar counter next to where Lucy was resting her head on.

"This is?" Lucy asked, giving the red-head a confused look.

"A job. The three of us; you, me and Gray. We will be doing one."

"A job?" Lucy questioned to which Erza gave a subtle nod.

"Now that you mention, where is he?" Erza stood up to scan the guild, looking at the unconscious bodies for the usual raven haired alchemist which wasn't hard since he always managed to lose half of his clothes before reaching the guild.

Lucy thought of warning Erza to be at least careful in waking up the guy but the next thing she saw was a familiar body flying towards her. She shut her eyes in reflex for the incoming pain, only to hear noise of Gray making a grunt of pain. Sensing no pain, she slowly opened her eyes, looked below to see Grey waking up.

"Hey there, sleepy head." Lucy greeted.

Gray let another groan of pain as he stood up, rubbing parts of his body where the impact of the stool that he crashed his body into. "How strange… my body feels as if someone threw me over." Gray mumbled as he stood up.

"Lucy?" he looked at the girl next to him who was resting her head on the counter bar. Lucy gave a smile, and then pointed to another direction.

"That's good, you're finally awake." Erza said as she walked where her two friends were.

"Erza?" he mumbled. "You're back?"

"Yeah, I was here earlier though everyone was sleeping." She crossed her arms. "Lucy?" she called who sat up. "The request?"

"Oh, here." Her friend handed her armored friend the piece of paper.

Gray just shifted his eyes between the two girls. "What's this about?"

"A mission. It's been a while since we teamed up. Let's do one together."

"A mission? Didn't you just return from doing an S-class mission?" Gray asked.

"Well… she's Erza you know." Lucy said as if that was all the reason needed to be said.

Gray in turn just rubbed the back of his head with a feeble sigh like he said something stupid. Rubbing his face with his hands, his face gave a smug grin "Sure I guess, why not?" he shrugged his shoulders. "What's the job anyway?"

"This." Erza handed the request to Gray.

"Wait a second! Isn't this-"

"An S-class mission." Erza said with a smirk knowing that would get the two's attention for different reasons. "It's an S-class job that requires taking down a dark guild, the Death Reapers." Erza watched the two take in the information.

"That's a strange request. And one creepy name for a guild." Lucy cocked her head at one side pausing a bit with a thoughtful look. "The request didn't say anything about dark guilds." Lucy said in confusion.

"That's because this request doesn't say anything about taking out a dark guild." Gray said as he read the request.

"If it doesn't say anything about a dark guild then how can you say-" Luc stopped in mid-sentence as if she just realized something before tearing the request from Gray's hand, scanning it critically for a second time.

"The request speaks nothing but tells to find a bunch of missing people, actually- requests to find the town's inhabitants." Erza started.

"This job wasn't an S-class before. I remember seeing it before. Why the change?" Gray asked.

"At first, people only disappeared one by one so most people thought it was just a minor case but recent activities showed a great number of people disappearing. Then there had been some disturbing rumors I heard. I did a little investigating on my own and…"

"It all points to that dark guild, right?" Lucy said, looking at Erza seriously.

"Yes, I believe your help will be necessary. I think it's important that this should be dealt with." Erza said to the two.

"But… isn't this the kind of thing the magic council usually deals with." Gray asked.

"Yeah, I would have informed them and let them deal with it but there's something interesting that we may find there… something very interesting." Erza said vaguely. Gray couldn't help but give the stellar mage a glance who was looking Erza with the same honest and curious smile.

"Fine with me. The rewards really big and it'll save me months worth of rent. Maybe I can find some clues as well." Lucy said in agreement before handing Erza the request.

"You two should prepare. I already had Mira reserve the mission. We're leaving first thing in the morning. Let's meet at the train station at seven. Don't be late you two."

"Right! I guess I should go prepare! Maybe I'll go shopping too." Lucy said giving a big whoop as she headed to the library no doubt, to invite her friend on a shopping spree.

"Right huh?" Gray said, smiling but with a tone that sounded hesitant. Erza just sat back to her seat, thanking Mira for the cake before starting to eat it. The ice mage waited until their blonde friend was up and about with Levy, waving them a goodbye, talking about books as they left the guild happily. When he was sure she wasn't returning, he turned to Erza, speaking his worry.

"Don't you think this is risky?" Gray leaned his elbows at the bar counter to stand up, his face looking at the guild's ceiling.

"Every job has risks." Erza said.

"You know what I mean." Gray sent Erza a hard look who was happily eating her cake.

"Lucy's been working hard and she's no damsel that needs saving. She can handle this job just fine." Erza said dismissively.

"I'm talking about where we're going. This mission reeks of those _two meeting._" Gray said with emphasis.

"She would have found out one of these days."

"I still say it's too early."

"Lucy has a right to know the truth and she would have to face it one of these days. It's not right of us to withhold this from her." Erza said. Gray gritted his teeth before letting out a sigh.

"I guess she does. I'm still holding to a hope they wouldn't meet because if they do… I don't want it to turn into something like when Lisanna…" Gray trailed off not really wanting to talk about it.

"Everyone has to face the truth someday. Lucy is no exception."

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"There's nothing like a hot bath after a day in the guild!" Lucy happily chirped as she leaned, groaning at the leisure the hot bath could give her.

It's been years since she first came to Fairy Tail and joined. She remembered being all shy and nervous, hiding behind Gildarts when he brought her to what he called _a magical place _which in reality mayhem that made absolutely no sense. But as she joined and spent time, doing jobs, meeting people, she understood what he meant by Fairy tail being a magical place.

Fairy Tail was a pleasure that made her heart soar as it was the place that made her so happy. It got her out of her little shell that hid inside of, helped her get used in the real world, and be strong. At least, she'd like to think she had become stronger over the years, keeping her promise to her friend.

That made her sigh. After several years, she has yet to find anything about his whereabouts, whether he was alive, or if he was dead. If he was, which she didn't believe to be the case, she was sure she would have known. Some believed her friend to be dead, that she had no chance of finding him seeing as it had been years. His body would have decayed by now. She went and travelled everywhere, following any small lead that may lead her to Natsu though sadly, it was like he disappeared like magic. Some thought he was some make-believe friend which was proven false when the guild came across Gajeel and eventually Wendy; dragon slayers who were just like him. Those two gave her hope, that Natsu was alive somewhere. She also had thought that with the existence of dragon slayers, she would get some clues about his whereabouts. That wasn't the case. Apparently, Gajeel claimed to know nothing about a fire dragon slayer which irked her. He was lying. She tried several tactics that probably cost her nine years of her life but still failed. He was so tight-lipped about it. Eventually, she stopped when he threatened her. That doesn't necessarily mean she had given up. Her hope in Gajeel was Levy. If by chance she got together with Gajeel, something the bookworm denied again and again, she's use it to her advantage. Then again, maybe not. She didn't really have what it took to do such a thing to her Levy.

She turned to ask Wendy but it went futile because the moment she looked at those eyes, as if the little dragon slayer knew whenever she was going to ask that question, the little girl would get teary, start crying, apologizing again and again barely getting a word out. Then Charle would get mad at her and had her promise not to ask Wendy about it anymore. Two answers were so close but so unattainable. That only served to tell her one thing, they knew something vital about Natsu. He could be dead. He could be alive. She didn't know and that made it all the more harder.

As much as she loathed it, they were also part of Fairy Tail and she had to respect for whatever reasons they had for not wanting to talk about it. Everyone had their own skeletons in their closets. Everyone in Fairy Tail had those, she had hers and it was fine not knowing what they were. Even if the knowledge came to light, there was no doubt that everyone would warmly accept the truth no matter how devastating it would be.

For now, she settled for searching Igneel, Natsu's dragon. She believed that finding him was the only option left to find Natsu. She vaguely remembered Natsu talking about finding Igneel, his foster father he spoke of, years ago. Lucy believed that in the process of finding him, she would either bump into him or find him when she finds the dragon. Though her guild mates found this crazy, they supported her nonetheless. Wendy was very cheerful about it while Gajeel though she was being stupid.

Tomorrow would be another day. It was too early to give up. Who knows, she might get some luck with the job! It's the first time that she would officially handle an S-class job. There was the incident in Galuna Island that she did on an impulse and kidnapping Grey to do the job, no less since the blonde knew she couldn't do it on his own. At the same time, she was a bit scared at the prospect of handling the job but this holds a chance that she could get stronger.

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"This is… really weird." Lucy said.

"No people at all. I should call this a ghost town but the town seems so fine." Gray said; his clothes for once were intact.

"I wanted you two to see the town's state and a night's preparation wouldn't hurt." Erza said as the three were eating in an empty restaurant that had meals prepared. The town they were in… well felt like a ghost town being that there was no sign of people. At the same time, there was also the oddity of the town looking so alive and vibrant, it was disturbing. The town seemed so well-maintained with it being clean, shops were open, and there was even music playing around. It was like people hadn't disappeared and were just hiding and waiting for the right opportunity to come out.

"You mean you know where the Death reapers are holding the townspeople." Lucy confirmed as she took another bite of her meal.

"Just what on earth is a dark guild planning to do with so much people?" Gray asked, feeling a dread on the pit of his stomach of what he might find out on this mission.

"If I had to speculate, it has something to do with Zeref's resurrection. It's something about a banned magic 400 years ago that Death Reapers, who are actually a sect of Zeref worshippers, are trying to do." Erza explained. It was okay to talk about the mission openly being the fact that there was no one around.

"By doing what exactly… Is it like the tower of Heaven?" Gray asked, remembering the incident, aware that Erza would be fine with brining up the issue. She wouldn't have invited them otherwise if she did.

"No, something different. I'm talking about human lives." A tense silence surrounded the three at those words.

"By doing what, sacrificing them or feeding them to some monster?" Gray said incredulously, breaking the silence. Lucy stared into the distance with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Just speculation from what the rumors. We can only confirm when we go there."

"Go where?"

"Ghemrio Island. According to my sources, there were sights of unusual activities there."

"Ghemrio Island?" Lucy asked in wonder. "Didn't that island sink or something? They said it disappeared right after some incident about after an operation of the military because of some terrorist or something." Lucy said as she tapped her chin.

"No, it still exists. You could say, it did disappear… but at the same time it's there."

"That doesn't really make any sense." Gray said.

"Well… officially speaking, such an island doesn't exist anymore and even if we went out of our way to go there, we might not even make it there or find it." Erza started.

"Does it even exist or not? Because I really don't get what you're saying."

"What I'm saying is; the island had been erased since the incident years ago. To be frank, the military made it seem like the island sunk, telling the world that no island as Ghemrio exists but what happened was the council put some kind of special spell that wouldn't allow anyone to be able to go there. Rather, to go there, we're going to find another way to enter the island." Erza finished as she watched the contemplative look in Lucy's face no doubt, who was already racking her brain of how the island manage to hide itself and what they would need to do to go to an island.

"In short, we need to find some other way to enter the island other than using a ship?" Gray asked to confirm.

Erza gave a nod.

"How do we even plan on finding a pathway? And don't tell me we need to go around wandering in this ghost town to search a way to get there."

"If that's what it takes to find a way there then that's what we're going to do. Do you have any problems?" Erza raised a brow as she inquired to which Gray just sighed.

"You do know this is a big place. It might practically take forever."

"I know but…" Erza looked at Lucy who hasn't been speaking or inserting any of her thoughts. Gray followed her eyes and when he did, his eyes in realization. That was right. They had Lucy. With Lucy around, finding a way might just take small time. At most, a couple of days and if he knew Lucy, the girl would do it less than a day.

Feeling eyes upon her, Lucy snapped out of her stupor as she blushed, "Uh, what? Is there something wrong?"

"We're just wondering what you think of the situation? I mean, do you know how to solve this problem of getting there?" Gray spoke for the two.

"I do have some ideas. There's just something I need to check with this town." Lucy said.

"What? Don't tell me you already know how we're going to get to the island?"

Lucy didn't say anything but gave a small smile that told everything.

"You already figured it out?" Gray questioned with surprise seeing as the way Erza talked about it, the Island wasn't something they could penetrate easily.

Lucy flicked her hair, giving her friends a confident grin.

"As expected of Lucy." Erza said, a slight nod with her voice laced with pride.

"That's why all you guys need to do is prepare for tomorrow. I'll need a the rest of the day to check something, rather, it's more like to make sure everything goes well, if my theory is right. And there's something I need to explain later on." Lucy leaned forward, her elbows on the table as her chin rested on the back of her knuckles.

"I see. Do you need help? I might as well help." Gray offered though knowing how capable the Celestial Spirit mage is.

"Nah, no need to bother, you guys should do as you please. I'm fine by myself." Lucy waved off their worry.

"Actually Gray, I'll need you to help me go around town. There still might be some people around." Erza said.

"But didn't you say there's no one around?" He found himself asking.

"I thought the same thing as well when we stepped into the town but I felt there's something about this town that's been bothering me… so I need you to come with me."

"Something strange… what do you mean? The fact that is well kept?" Gray asked.

"That may be related to it." Erza said.

"Okay then. I'll go." Gray agreed, leaning on the back of his chair, tilting his head towards the ceiling.

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"Being in an empty town like this reminds me of those days…" Lucy trailed off, walking with Plue in the abandoned town.

Her mind flashed back to those quiet and lost days where she lived in an abandoned village waiting for someone to come only to discover he wasn't coming at all. Remembering always brought her feelings of regret; feelings of what ifs looming in her head. _In only I had, I wish I had, I should have_… those thoughts never left her. Maybe she could have done something different and she and Natsu could have been safe and alive; together even. Though she had no regrets meeting Gildarts, and finding herself in Fairy Tail, the choice if time was turned over would have her do things differently.

She felt Plue trying to get her attention to which she responded easily. Kneeling to the ground, she plucked her little friend, hugging him to her chest. "I'm worrying you, aren't I? Sorry about that." Lucy said in comfort. Letting out a sigh, maybe she should have asked Gray to come along. It wasn't like she really needed to confirm anything. Just by Erza's explanation, she already got the gist of how kidnapping the townspeople were done so easily. Walking with Plue in her arms, she closed her eyes, listening to the quiet sound of the air blowing. It was just so similar, it felt so ironic.

She shook her head at that thought. It wasn't the time to think about such things. She needed to focus at the task at hand and that was the tall clock tower in front of her. It was here, she was sure of it. Closing her eyes, she placed on of her hands flat at its large door. After a few seconds, she slowly opened them. Silently, she stepped back a few seconds to peer at the clock's hand.

It was just as she had suspected. Smiling at herself for finding out the truth, she congratulated herself inwardly.

"Plue, I'm amazing, aren't I?"

"Puuuu." Its paws were raised in agreement with her.

Lucy smiled at her friend's expression. "Yeah you're right, we should head back."

Lucy started to walk her way towards the hotel they invited themselves to use when she felt her body froze in disturbance.

Her eyes widened open. What was that? She slowly let Plue down as she looked at her surroundings. Erza said this town had no people. For a second, she thought she had a glimpse of something moving?

There was no way she'd believe that there were ghost in the town which meant, there might actually be people left in the place.

"There's no way anyone is around, right Plue?" She asked her small friend.

"Puuu." He was looking at her with his innocent eyes like he was agreeing with her.

"Right! Just my imagination." As soon as she said that, her eyes briefly saw a rustle of movement causing the girl to scream with Plue following the way she moved.

As she looked where it came from, she noticed no one was there, no animal. Her heart started beating wild. What was that movement? Giving herself a silent cheer that it wasn't anything important, she tried to look from where the noise had come from. It was nothing serious, nothing to worry about. That was what Lucy thought as she walked down the street, hearing nothing but her own and Plue's footsteps. It was definitely no ghost. Shaking her head at her silliness, Lucy let out a light laughter. "That's right it was just my imagination, right Plue?"

"Puupupuuuu." It answered, one of its paws up agreeing with her.

Then she felt an unknown hand on her shoulder.

Surprised at the contact, added with the fact that her imagination had at least three to four wild assumptions, she let out a scream, her eyes closed as she pulled the person, instinct moving her as she threw the person over her shoulder as a sound of someone hitting the barrels at the side of the street with a combination of someone groaning in pain.

Her eyes were closed tightly as seconds passed with the person trying to stand.

"What-the heck? Lucy!" there was a familiar voice of a man, wait that voice was Gray's. Opening her eyes, she saw her friend a bit ruffled and dirty, no doubt because of her, looking at her with a slight glare.

Lucy put her hands behind her, giving a small dry laugh. "Sorry?"

"Honestly, you and Erza are always a pain to team up with. " Gray said with slight irritation. He was always one way or another, getting hurt because of the two. Erza often manhandled him. Lucy being the girl she was tends to hurt him by some accident or surprise.

"Well- isn't it your fault for surprising me?" she said with slight indignation, puffing her cheeks, offended by his words.

"I'm the one who was hurt you know." He pointed out.

"That's your fault for surprising me." She crossed her arms.

Gray found himself sighing. Seeing as Lucy was being stubborn, he might was well change the topic. "What were you doing anyway?"

"Oh. Just finished checking something. That reminds me! Where's Erza?" she asked frantically.

"At the hotel, she wanted to have you back. She wants to discuss something but won't say what."

"There's something else I need to tell you too." Lucy said as she knelt to pick her spirit friend. BY the way Gray talked about Erza, she felt it wouldn't be hard explaining things. They may have arrived at the same conclusions,

"All the more we should go back."

"Then let's get going."

"Right."

The two starts to walk back with Plue on her arms when Lucy suddenly halted and looked behind her, a look on confusion on her face.

Noticing his companion stop, he looked at the stellar mage. "What's wrong?"

She appeared to have not noticed her friend's words. Her eyes were sharply peering around, searching for something. After a few seconds of her eyes moved around the scenery critically, over the roofs or the street corners, the lamp posts, bushes and streets, the girl gave a dejected sigh which was noticeable to Gray's suspicious gaze. She shook her head with a small smile. "Nothing, I was just thinking about something." Lucy said before walking again.

"Okay." Gray said though his voice told her he wasn't convinced.

Was her eyes fooling her or did she just saw a flash of something pink?

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For a second, Lucy can't help but think of that strange afternoon walk. Time and time again, she always felt like there was someone else other than her. It proved to be false seeing as Gray didn't notice a thing. It just couldn't be possible, right? The only people right now was she, Erza and Gray and even if she tried to get a cop of feel of other people's presence, there wasn't any to feel.

She shook her head; she was thinking too much. This wasn't the time to be thinking of such things.

"Lucy?" she snapped out of her thoughts and saw Gray and Erza looking at her with concern.

"Oh, it's nothing. Sorry for zoning out." Lucy said apologetically. Her friends looked at her skeptically for a few seconds then Erza gave a subtle nod, accepting the blond mage's reasoning.

"About tomorrow… Lucy, will you be fine?"

"Yeah. No need to worry, I can do it." She gave them a confident nod to which the two smiled at.

"I'm sure you can. Well, we should get some rest; tomorrow will be a big day for all of us. We need that sleep." Erza stood up, making her way towards her bed.

"Right!" Lucy said cheerfully who was combing her hair, sitting at her bed.

Gray silently made his way to his bed, looking at Lucy with slight worry. He couldn't help but think something dreadful happening tomorrow. For their sake as well for Lucy's, he could only pray that everything would go well.

Hopefully…

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**AN**: End of Chapter Five: Dumdadaramdaram! What do you think happened? Who do you think Gray was talking about? Where did the townspeople go? I have absolutely no idea! I'm really happy to get this chapter started! Because…

Drum rolls!

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I'm not telling you!

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You just have to wait for the next chapter!

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As of now, I've got bad news. I won't be able to update as I used to seeing as classes are coming this coming week. But I will have you know I've already started the next chapter and will continue writing this. It'll just take me a while to update. And to make you happy, I'll give you a small fun fact: Natsu may possibly make his debut on the next chapter, if not; it's the chapter after that. Plus I need to properly map out the incoming chapters. Thank you for your patience.

So how was the chapter? Too short for your liking? Good or bad? Love it or hate it? Critiques, comments and suggestions are all welcome.

Going out

Kauia


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fairy Tail.

**Author's notes:** How's everyone doing? I deeply apologize for the late update. School really drives you nuts. My computer broke down so all progress I made disappeared. That includes the latest revisions, about ten percent progress of the next chapter I've written and drafts of my other stories.

_For my reviewers, those who alerted, favorite and read my story_; thank you so much for supporting my story. And so! I present to you, chapter Six of Twist in Time. I leave my great thanks for this chapter and the rest to my beta, Hazuki Goldair. She's really one amazing gal. I love her.

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Enjoy!

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Lucy grunted as her bound hands were yanked by her captor.

She was _so _demanding a bigger portion of the reward when she finished the mission—after she wrung her friends' necks.

"_So what's the plan?" Gray asked, joining the huddle. "How are we going to find the missing townspeople?"_

_Lucy closed the book she had been reading. "This used to be a tourist town. A few missing tourists wouldn't be a surprise, but the whole town, tourists and residents alike, have disappeared. So many people missing and not a single suspect on the Rune Knights' radar."_

_"And you were saying something about dealing with a group, not some single madman. You called them some dark guild…" Gray paused, forgetting the name Erza had mentioned before._

_"Death Reapers," Lucy reminded him in a bemused voice._

_"Yeah!" Gray snapped his fingers, recalling the name. "Death Reapers. You were saying they were behind it? What a creepy name for a guild. Wait a sec…this is an unsolved mystery. That means others have tried to complete this mission, right?"_

_The red haired mage nodded. "That's based from what I heard from other people," Erza said._

"_That __means the other mages before us gathered some kind of information that we can use, right?"_

"_I wish that were the case," Erza answered, a frown on her lips. "Many have attempted this quest, but most never returned. Those who did gathered little to no information, claiming there were no clues to the mystery behind the kidnappings. After much deliberation, the quest was changed into an S-rank."_

"_I just hope there will be a decent fight. It's been awhile since I've had a strong opponent. So how are we finding this place? Any ideas?" Gray asked Lucy._

"_I have one. We just need to time it right," she answered._

"_Time it right?"_

"_Yes. You see, there's a clock tower in this town that is different from the rest of the architecture. __This tower, I heard, is special. It isn't made from normal stone, but a special material called moonstones. They have magical properties that absorb the moon's light and convert it into magic."_

_Lucy's words struck a chord in Gray's memory. "Is it something like what happened on Galuna Island?"_

"_It's similar. Do you remember Moon Drip?" When her teammates nodded, Lucy continued. "The difference with moonstones is that it gathers a huge amount of magic for a specific purpose. With enough moonlight, the converted magic on a tower of that size could do some powerful things."_

"_Like what?" Gray asked, afraid that he wouldn't like the answer._

"_Forbidden magic," Erza murmured, opening her eyes. "You're talking about one of the seven forbidden magics, yes?"_

_Lucy nodded._"_It's forbidden now. Not only did it prove difficult to use, since the materials required are too expensive or near impossible to find, but the aftereffects could be catastrophic._"

"_How expensive?" Gray asked._

"_Supposedly, one sack could cost anywhere from five to eight hundred million jewels."_

"_That's messed up," Gray commented. "Just what kind of people would even consider such a thing?"_

"_I honestly don't know," Lucy replied. "But most of them would be people without good intentions."_

"_Yes, I can imagine a dark guild would want such powerful magic," Erza remarked._

"_Although I have to wonder how this dark guild managed to build the tower in the first place," Lucy added._

"_Probably had a financer. Maybe they paid a few bribes to a group of corrupted Rune Knights in exchange for turning a blind eye," Gray theorized._

"_Getting back to the issue at hand, the mages who implemented this magic used it to help their illicit activities._"

"_Wait, you're talking about the Space-Time magic. It uses doors that connect two disjoint places by using special gate magic. That's what caused the Iowa incident" Gray recalled._

"_Yes. Space-Time magic creates something similar to a black hole when overused. It damages the natural flux of magic by sucking in excess magic, but without preserving the conservation of mass," Lucy explained. "In the case of the Iowa incident, it sucked away enough power to destroy the atmosphere of that region. Thus, the Magic Council was forced to step in and add it to the list of forbidden magics."_

_Incredulous, Gray asked, "So the Death Reapers are using this Space-Time magic? But why? Wouldn't teleport magic be less costly?"_

"_While that's true, teleport magic is harder to use on a group of non-mages—for instance, an entire town that has gone missing. And thanks to the odd black hole behavior of Space-Time magic, it's near untraceable. The perfect device for rogue mages. However, the artificial and unstable properties make the prospect of a black hole dangerous, so to safeguard against this, the one who activates the spell usually determines a specific time of day when the passage is accessible."_

"_Sounds dodgy to me." Gray folded his arms, unconvinced. "So what you're saying is that if we can find the appointed time that this Space-Time magic opens the passage, then we can use it to find the missing townspeople."_

_Lucy smiled. "It will lead us right to them."_

"_It will lead only one of us," Erza corrected._

_Lucy and Gray looked at the requip mage in surprise._

"_What do you mean only one of us?" Lucy asked. "What about the other two?"_

"_One will scout ahead while the others follow. We had better hurry if the magic's appointed time is approaching…" Erza trailed off as she revealed three sticks in her left hand. "Shall we see who will be our lucky scout?"_

_Gray exchanged glances with Lucy. "Ladies first."_

Liquor-breath accosted Lucy's nose as a greasy-haired man grasped her chin, chewing his cigarette like a toothpick. He stared at Lucy as though she were the last piece of flank steak for sale at the market. She wished she could punch the sick smirks off the faces of the despicable men, but that would ruin the ploy of her being the "kidnapped victim". _I swear, if Erza or Gray don't get here before one of these slimeballs touches me…_

Her thoughts were distracted, as the cigarette man said, "Pity she has to be sacrificed."

"Especially one so good looking," another said in a deep bass voice.

"Can't be helped. It's just too bad we can't have a little fun first," the third man commented in a nasally voice. Lucy's skin crawled. "You know, sweetheart, it's hard for me to ignore a woman in a little red dress. It's so…tempting." She resisted the urge to throw up her breakfast as she felt the man pat her bum lightly. _Why, oh why did Erza make me wear the red cocktail dress?_

"You know what the boss said," the second man reminded Lucy's perverted captor. "The sacrifices can't be touched."

His nasally companion groaned, removing his hand from the blonde's backside. "I know, I know."

At the order of the deep voiced man (whom Lucy determined was the leader of this group), the foul-smelling male pulled on the rope to force Lucy to walk.

Lucy had no idea where she was being led, blindfolded as she was. She felt that the path she walked on felt like stone, rather than the squish of mud and crunch of leaves from earlier. The smell of fresh rain and pine trees was replaced with a musky odor. The warm summer's day now felt like the chill of a late autumn evening.

Once again, Lucy was thankful that the men who had "caught" her weren't mages, since that meant a smaller chance of being discovered. But if they weren't part of the dark guild, then they were most likely hired mercenaries, which of itself could be dangerous.

Whatever the case, Lucy was concerned that this dark guild was pulling out all the stops to keep their involvement in the multiple kidnappings hidden. If they didn't want to be discovered, then there was a very good chance that they were up to something much worse than what she previously anticipated.

As Lucy pondered, the men shared bawdy jokes and the luck they had finding such easy prey. "I thought for sure we would be out all day trying to find this month's sacrifice," the cigarette man said. "Though I admit she's a bit weird for wandering around a deserted town in such finery. Get lost on the way to your high society party, princess?"

Lucy bristled at the insult. What was with people calling her weird? Her clothes weren't that strange—she actually really liked the white jacket that covered her bare shoulders and arms. And her favorite scarf complimented the outfit very well as a necessary accessory, though her captors had found another use for it in blindfolding her. Maybe the mid-calf, high heeled leather boots weren't very sensible, but was it a crime for a girl to look her best to get herself captured? She was just thankful that Erza didn't insist on her wearing the bunny suit. Again.

"Does it really matter how she got there?" the leader of the mercenaries asked. "Just be glad that with her, the plan can be completed."

"Then Lord Zoldeo can finally pay up!" the nasally man grunted.

The cigarette mercenary tugged on Lucy's rope, inhibiting her from moving anymore as he said, "We're here. Guess this is where we part ways, girlie. Unless…" His liquor breath grew stronger in Lucy's nose as he moved to whisper beside her ear. "I can save you the pain of being sacrificed if you come with me. We could have a good time together."

Lucy could imagine the dirty smirk he wore, and wanting to wipe it off his face, she stomped on his foot, the heel of her boot digging in to his metatarsals. He roared out in pain, while his companions laughed at him and complimented their captive.

"She's got spunk, that one!"

"Good to know the airhead can defend herself."

Lucy heard the rank-smelling man cuss out his companions before he approached her once more. "Why you—" She felt the rope slacken and gave a startled scream of agony as he yanked her hair. For the next few minutes, Lucy whimpered in pain as he dragged her about, trying desperately to raise her bound wrists to fight off his powerful grip. "Wenches like you like you deserve all the wrath of hell. Lucky for you, that's what you're about to get." Lucy bit her lips as she tried to hold back the tears that threatened to leak.

The mercenaries just laughed at her misery as the outraged mercenary continued to pull her hair with one hand while opening a gate with the other. Lucy cringed as the rusted metal screeched open.

"Enjoy your _paradise_," he sneered, shoving her through the gate. Lucy lost her balance, falling to the rough ground amid the mercenaries' cackles and the screeching of the gate as it closed.

Groaning in pain, she tried to sit up, which proved difficult with the blindfold still tied around her head. When she finally succeeded and no longer felt her brain spinning inside her skull, she fingered her familiar set of keys. Briefly, she wondered why they didn't take her belongings or check her bag for weapons, as she found her whip still in its place. _Nitwits, the lot of them_, she scoffed, before opening Cancer's gate.

"You called, ebi?"

Lucy turned her head at the sound of his voice, her vision still impaired by the blindfold. "Could you help get me get out of these bindings, please?"

Without a word, the spirit cut the rope around her wrists and removed the scarf from her eyes, securing it once more around her neck.

"Finally," she sighed, stretching her arms in the air. She groaned in relief as she was able to move her aching joints. "Thanks, Cancer!" Lucy grinned, relieved to be free from her restraints.

"Would you like me to fix your hair, ebi?" the crab spirit asked, snipping scissors in each hand.

"Um, thanks. But maybe next time," Lucy answered.

"Until then," he said, vanishing to the celestial realm.

With her sight restored to her, Lucy blinked several times, a soft gasp escaping her lips as she took in the scene before her.

It was a city, but unlike any that Lucy had seen before. As far as the eye could see, tall gravity-defying structures rose into the air, black roads intersected and overlapped one another in a jumbled mess, and self-powered vehicles that traveled faster than trains hurtled along these roads—did they even use magic? The dark sky was illuminated by glowing balls of light everywhere. And it appeared to be all encased in a giant dome with a small opening at the center, which allowed natural light to filter in.

Only after she had taken in the strangeness of the city did she notice the oddity of the people. They wore bizarre outfits, styled the same but in varying shades of gray, brown, and black. It was like nothing Lucy had ever seen in all her years shopping at Heart Kreuz—the trendiest store in Fiore. They walked in unison, expressionless as they followed a pattern that seemed programmed in their brains. Lucy was perturbed as she walked into one of these streams of people, and their only reaction was to move around her. No yells of outrage, no annoyed glances, just the same monotonous expression. It was as if they couldn't see Lucy, even though they had no problem walking around her like some statue placed in the middle of the walkway. But the creepiest part was their skin color. While they appeared human, their blue skin made it obvious that they were something else.

Her eyebrows furrowed as a strange scent assaulted her nose. It wasn't unpleasant, but it smelled faintly like smoke. As Lucy looked around, she noticed fumes emitting from the self-powered transporters and from a few buildings as well. That's when Lucy realized there was nothing green. Not a single tree or a hint of grass. Everything looked and smelled drab. It was like the city was doing its best to snuff out the very existence of Mother Nature.

Lucy ran back to the iron gates she had come through. She laid her hand flat on them, knocking a few times, her hands roaming to find a handle or something that could open them. When her search proved futile, Lucy sighed in defeat, leaning her back against the gate.

_Locked in, huh?_

She scanned her surroundings. Was this the only entrance? How did anyone leave? Or… Lucy shook her head at that thought, not wanting to consider the possibility. It was time to get to work; she could figure out an escape later. First off, she needed to find the client.

How to find him or her was another problem altogether. She tapped a boot as she surveyed the mob of moving people. Minutes passed, and when nothing better came to mind, Lucy decided to just ask someone.

That proved difficult as she still seemed to go unnoticed, even as she walked among a stream of people. "Umm—excuse me, could you —" No one would stop long enough for Lucy to say more than that. _What's wrong with these people?_she thought, just as someone from behind unexpectedly pushed her to the ground.

_Okay, maybe they can see me_, she thought bitterly, rubbing her bruised bottom. She looked for the rude passerby who had shoved her, ready to make her complaint known. But whoever it had been, he or she was long gone. Lucy pouted as the river of people passed her by without so much as a glance.

_How rude._

She resisted voicing the insults that threatened to burst from her mouth, dusting the dirt off her clothes with exaggerated motion in her annoyance.

Trying again, she asked, "Could someone give me directions?" Still no answer except for the passersby moving along.

There was something wrong with this city—despite the blue skin of the people, the foreign architecture and otherworldly machinery. Near the entrance to an alley, she could see a group of young men, staring nonchalantly at the moving mass of people. Maybe she would have better luck asking someone who didn't seem so intent on walking in a mindless march. Approaching them, she asked, "Excuse me. I'm trying to find someone. Could you help me?"

Dark eyes roved up and down her body. Lucy couldn't decide what she wanted to do more—slap the pervert for his leering gaze or whoop for joy that someone was actually paying attention to her. Deciding that getting answers was more important than punishing a common pervert, Lucy started to lay on the charm. Her first weapon of choice: the shy smile.

_These guys are too simple_, she thought triumphantly as one grinned maliciously. The one with the leer licked his lips before opening his mouth to say something—a cheesy pickup line, no doubt—but stopped when his companion tapped his shoulder. His eyes widened in surprise as he looked between her and his friend who waved his arms in a 'no' signal, pointing to Lucy. The pervert looked annoyed—like he was told there would be no more ice cream. He gave a dejected sigh as he looked away. In a matter of seconds, her existence was dismissed once again.

_What is going on here?_

Shocked at the pervert's sudden disinterest and angry that her feminine charm had been so effectively snubbed, Lucy flushed red. _Why are they ignoring me? _She glanced down. Other than her somewhat impractical attire, nothing was wrong with her. Unless they were racist, as she was the only person in the vicinity without blue skin. She knew she wasn't hideous. She looked around and this time found a vendor. He seemed a decent sort of gentleman with a grandfatherly face and lots of laugh lines.

As she approached, the man's welcoming aura turned to trepidation. Worried that she might scare him off, Lucy tried asking in a calm, gentle voice, "Excuse me, I was wondering if you could…" she paused as she watched the man glance left and right repeatedly, a sheen of sweat visible on his forehead, "give me directions." The man looked everywhere but at her. Lucy gave an exasperated sigh as she left the old man. She noticed the relief cross his face as she left.

Lucy was frustrated as she walked around, attempting conversation with several passersby. The only reaction she got was to be avoided like a contagious disease. Several agonizing hours passed before Lucy had to sit on a bench by a deserted fountain when her legs threatened to fall off.

"Something's seriously wrong with this town," she mumbled to herself. Resting her elbows on her knees and holding her head in her hands, she gazed at the cobblestones at her feet. The occasional native would pass by, laughing at some joke that seemed to make sense only to the inhabitants of this nonsensical place.

She had been expecting to find a gloomy headquarters. Instead, she winded up in a town—like any other town with people going about their daily lives. And ignoring the tourists who just wanted to ask for directions. _Something is going on here, _Lucy thought. _How can an entire city's population—blue skin or not—act so lifeless? What does it have to do with the Death Reapers? _She knew her captors were part of the dark guild. If their purpose was to gather people for a ritual, why did they leave her here alone? What was this place? Were they going to be part of the ritual? Or were they already…

Lucy glanced at the dark, covered sky. Beneath the open center of the dome stood a sinister looking tower. It was also the only place where the most light seemed to emanate from within the city. It didn't take a genius to guess that the tower played a part in all of this. Sitting up straight, Lucy thought of the possibilities that tower presented when she noticed black markings on the back of her hand. _Where did this come from? _The blonde stared at the pattern of a black swirl surrounding an ominous flower, wondering if it had always been there and she had been too absorbed in everything else to ever notice such an important change to her physical appearance. Her thoughts turned foggy as she briefly dismissed the idea that it was something alien and needed to be rid of quickly.

Her thoughts were interrupted as her face abruptly met the ground. The celestial spirit mage was annoyed. Did people from this town enjoy pushing people as some kind of pastime?

Ready to let loose a verbal assault on the offender, Lucy opened her mouth to say exactly what she thought about people who treat complete strangers like absolute garbage, but stopped when a disdainful voice asked, "What's a newbie doing here? This is a _respectable _place." Lucy gaped as a plump woman wearing a beaded green dress and an expensive looking fur-wrap around her shoulders sat on the bench Lucy had previously occupied. Even with her light blue complexion, her haughty manner and gaudy clothes reminded Lucy of a selfish noblewoman who spent more time judging others' lack than trying to assist them.

Finally, Lucy spoke, outraged after a night of being treated like invisible trash. "Why'd you push me? That was extremely rude, no matter the excuse." Lucy rubbed her twice bruised posterior as she stood up and straightened her clothes. She hoped she didn't get anything dirty on it. It would be a shame to ruin the pretty shade of red with splotches of muck.

The woman ignored her, continuing to rest on Lucy's bench. That made the blonde even angrier. "Hey, I'm talking to you. Piggy old hag!"

The woman glared hard enough to make the blonde flinch. It was creepy, really, but Lucy refused to back down and returned the glare.

The pompous woman finally broke the silence, with an offended retort. "How dare such a _thing _talk to me; what's more, such impudence coming from one whose existence is that of a speck of dust. What have the guards been doing, letting such riff raff out and about in public?" Lucy raised an eyebrow, annoyed that she was being treated like some stray rabid dog that needed to be locked up. Her anger simmered in her veins. What was this woman talking about? She was the one who had pushed her to the ground. If anyone should be offended, it should be Lucy, not this beast of a woman.

"The audacity to stare at me in such a way!" the woman screeched. "Have you no shame?"

Then she heard them—their whispers, the surprise evident on each of the passersby's face around her.

"A newbie?"

"Ohhh, look, dear! It's another one."

"What's _that _doing here?"

"But everyone knows they're not allowed outside."

"It must have escaped."

"Security has gone to the dogs."

"Insolent little thing, ain't it?"

It took Lucy a moment to realize they were talking about her. Looking right to left, she could see everyone gazing contemptuously at her. Their disgust was palpable and the blonde unconsciously took a step back. She was flabbergasted. Just ten minutes ago they ignored her like she didn't exist and now she had their undivided attention. She wasn't so sure she wanted it after all.

What was up with this town?

Lucy yelped as large hands shoved her to the ground, keeping her immobile. With great effort, she managed to turn her head so that air could reach her lungs. Her eyes watered, alarmed at the harsh actions. _This doesn't make sense. Why are they doing this?_

"This should take care of it," one said, using his hands to hold hers down tightly, making the blonde flinch from the harsh grip.

"Are you alright, madam? It didn't hurt you, did it?" She saw a woman attempting to comfort the condescending woman who had pushed her earlier.

"Can't believe they let one as dangerous as this out of their sight," another one remarked, as he held her legs while Lucy struggled to free herself.

"What's…going on here?" Lucy murmured, trying to get a grasp of the situation she had landed in.

"Have you called the guards?" she heard someone ask as he paced in front of her.

"Yeah. They'll be here shortly."

She could have used her keys, given enough struggling to reach her belt. But these were civilians. Lucy wasn't about to unleash her magic on unsuspecting, innocent people. Besides, Lucy couldn't reveal her ability to use magic. The mission depended on it.

Sirens pierced the air. Lucy heard the screech of metal doors opening and closing, and then the uniformed march of a small group of people towards the fountain.

"We'll take it from here," a gruff voice announced.

There was a collective sigh of relief. "Oh, please, do," one woman insisted. "We were all scared when that…thing…suddenly spoke." Lucy felt the woman's gaze on her as she added, "It talked like…like it was one of us." The woman gave an incredulous laugh. "Can you believe it officer?"

"It was crazy. Had it not been for our quick actions, it would have harmed Ms. Mary," a man commented, proud of his contribution to help save one of the most refined ladies in the city.

Lucy felt the hands release her, only to be replaced with cuffs on her wrists. _Well, that seems to be a recurring theme today_, she thought drily.

"I didn't do anything wrong," Lucy protested as she was forced to stand up. The eyes that looked at her were a mix of revulsion and fear, though they refused to meet her gaze.

An officer grabbed her jaw harshly. "This one's unique," he mused, unfazed as the captured girl glared back at him.

"We'll make sure it behaves properly," the first officer assured the crowd.

Lucy was indignant. Why did they keep treating her like some kind of thing?

"Thank you, officer," several citizens murmured with relief, already leaving the area like nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. The celestial mage stared blankly ahead of her, scheming of ways to escape even as she was pushed by two officers towards a four-wheeled machine. One of them opened the door and gestured for her to get inside. Lucy emphatically shook her head no.

One of her escorts muttered angrily, "Get in the car peacefully or we'll be forced to—" He never finished his threat as an explosion knocked them all to the ground. Smoke quickly filled the street, filling the lungs of everyone who breathed in too much.

"What's going on?" one yelled between coughs. The hands that held Lucy loosened as the officer became preoccupied filling his lungs with clean air.

"Smoke screen?"

"I can't see anything!"

Lucy had no idea what was happening, but she wasn't about to let this chance to escape pass her by.

"Is it an attack?"

"Captain! It's the rebels!"

Lucy wasted no time. While their attention was diverted, she could get away. Though she herself was blinded by the smoke, instinct and adrenaline kicked in as she tried not to breathe in the strange smoke. Just as she was ready to run, the cuffs clinked to the ground.

A hand latched onto hers, dragging her along. Given no time to think, her only reaction was to follow the direction of the hand that led her.

By the time the smoke cleared, the police force determined that they were safe from attack.

"Officer Jenkins, report!" ordered the captain.

"A few bruises, sir, but no casualties. It appears to have been some kind of prank," the officer said. "No rebels to be found."

The captain nodded as he took in his scattered team, some struggling to get up as their legs were entangled with each other. "What about the girl?"

Officer Jenkins gulped. "Er…she's missing. Sir," he added as an afterthought.

The man quivered beneath the menacing aura of his commanding officer. "What?!" he burst out, his mustache quivering. "Incompetent. Useless. Jenkins, you're dismissed." With a salute, Jenkins fled the scene, praying this would not affect his chances of promotion. The captain began to relay his orders to the rest of the taskforce. "Men, call headquarters. Connect me to the tracking department. It must have been one of those damn rebels. They won't have gotten far. One squad will come with me to search the surrounding area. Send a squad each to search sections E and F. Even if they run, there's no escaping Master Zoldeo's plan. However, if those fools think they can mess with this city's law enforcement, they have another thing coming," he muttered darkly.

"Sir!" a junior lieutenant ran up. "We managed to make contact with the tracking department."

"And?" the captain asked impatiently.

The lieutenant gulped. "They said they lost track of the girl."

The captain cursed under his breath. "What else? Do they at least know where she disappeared?"

"Somewhere near 34thstreet."

Thoughtfully rubbing his chin, the captain said, "Close that road. Stop all activity and evacuate the citizens living there. We're going to capture them." Having given his orders, he walked past the civilians who saw what happened. They appeared worried that their law enforcement had just been outsmarted, their horrified expressions distraught that something potentially dangerous was loose on the streets. "One more thing, lieutenant."

"Sir?"

"Gather reports from the eyewitnesses." Pretend that everything was all right; keep the unsuspecting townsfolk calm.

"Yessir!"

Their worries were miniscule in the grand scheme of things. No matter how anyone attempted to resist, the same inevitable future awaited this people. However, it was best not to let them know that.

.

.

.

.

.

"Where are we going?" Lucy asked her rescuer for the seventh time. And just like the previous six times, he ignored her—just like the blue citizens she had just escaped from. _What if he's one of them, _she thought. But as they walked through the sewers, Lucy's intuition told her that his silence was for reasons very different from the strange inhabitants of this bizarre city.

After what seemed like an hour of mucking in the waste—_I can't wait until I can take a nice, long soak in a hot bath—_Lucy bumped into her rescuer, realizing belatedly that he had halted. "We're here," he announced, studying a siding of metal. His voice sounded high-pitched and scratchy, like he hadn't reached puberty—

"You're just a kid! Don't you realize the situation is dangerous? This is no place for a child," the blond mage ranted. He paid her no mind as he knocked on the metal siding. "What do you think you're doing? There's nothing…" she trailed off as an opening appeared. On the other side was a dimly lit hallway with a second cloaked person waiting for them, though this one had the build of a bulky man.

"Is she—"

"Yeah, the last one," the boy answered.

"Excellent work, m'boy."

If there was one thing Lucy had grown to hate, it was being ignored. Being talked about like she wasn't even there was worse, and it made her blood boil. In an aggravated voice, she asked, "Could I get some answers now? Such as—oh, I don't know—who are you, what are we doing here, and what the heck is happening _out there_?"

The older male glanced at her, revealing he wore a mask that covered the top half of his face. But through the eye holes, she could see that his eyes were narrowed, as if he hadn't expected the blonde to speak her own mind. His eyes from what she could see were staring at her with deep thought. "My apologies, miss. You must've had a rough day. But it's all right now," he paused, giving a reassuring smile. "Let's get you settled down before explaining. I'm sure you're very confused about everything."

The child walked ahead, as if he hadn't heard the older man say anything. "You must excuse him," the man said, noticing Lucy's confusion at the boy's abrupt departure. "Everyone around here is feeling edgy nowadays." He smiled apologetically, trying to make up for the boy's inhospitality.

Bewildered, Lucy stared at the man as he placed a brown shawl around her shoulders. "I'm sure you're scared and confused," he said, "but I assure you that you'll be safe here." He gave a reassuring smile. Lucy grabbed the ends of the shawl, more for comfort than warmth, as she smiled in return at the kind gesture.

"This way, miss," he bowed politely before walking the same way as the boy. Lucy followed close behind.

An hour later, Lucy was sitting on a couch, drinking a refreshing cup of tea. She was in an old office, occupied by tables stacked with disorganized piles of paperwork. Lights flickered from time to time. A decrepit ceiling fan creaked slowly in circles, as if one jostle would bring it crashing down. Lucy shared the room with others in cloaks wearing similar masks to her rescuer and escort.

"So—"she began eagerly.

"You want explanations?" asked one behind the largest table, sitting in a chair with her legs crossed. Despite the cloak that hid the person's figure and the mask that altered voices, Lucy knew it was a woman. At Lucy's nod, the woman continued, "Well then, where would you like me to start?"

"How about something old fashioned, like introductions? Who are you people? What are you doing down here?"

The woman smiled. "I'd love to explain, but you really aren't _that _interested in finding out who we are, right?"

Lucy was a little irked that this woman refused to answer. Deciding to let it slide for now, she asked, "How about with this town, then? The people here are strange. No one would look at me let alone answer my questions. They treated me like an invisible diseased person. Why?"

"Belnika, explain." The smile never left her face as the woman called on someone else to be spokesperson.

"Me?" A calm, appealing voice responded, blinking twice at the sudden address. Lucy turned automatically to face the speaker. The woman sat with perfect posture, her back straight, hands resting on her lap, and ankles neatly crossed to the side. Blue bangs peeped from under the hood, framing her soft indigo eyes as she gazed serenely at Lucy without the hindrance of a mask. She gave a graceful nod toward the celestial mage as she murmured to herself, "That would be the proper thing, hmm?" The way she smiled gently at Lucy reminded the blonde of her deceased mother. "The answer to why they ignored you is right there on your hand," Belnika began.

"This?" Lucy raised the marked hand. Belnika nodded as Lucy studied the markings. Her eyes widened as she noticed the mark looked different. "It's bigger now. And the pattern changed."

"It's the process for newbies around here," Belnika explained matter-of-factly. "Whoever kidnapped you should have said something about it."

"Eh? Oh, those jerks. But…" Lucy paused, her brows wrinkled in confusion. "All they did was blindfold me, push me around a few times, then left alone in this bizarre city. Besides that, they didn't say anything relevant." _Maybe I shouldn't have pissed them off, _Lucy thought as she stared up at the ceiling.

"That's it?" Belnika asked in surprise. She shook her head as if she was disappointed in the mercenaries' incompetence.

Lucy looked back to the blue-haired woman. "Yeah. So…what's with this mark?" She raised her hand, revealing that the markings now reached the wrist.

"That mark…" Belnika trailed off as she looked to her boss for reassurance. Receiving a nod, Belnika removed her hood.

Lucy audibly gasped.

Shaking out her wild blue hair, Belnika removed her cloak. She wore a sleeveless blue dress, with a side slit that ran from thigh to ankle. She looked as picturesque as Levy except for two distinct things: the markings that spread over her arms and legs—similar to the ones on Lucy's hand—and the pale blue shading of her skin. Lucy began to realize there was more to the blue skin than she first thought.

"This mark is something that everyone gets upon entering the city," Belnika explained, sitting once more. "What it means is this: you've begun the process of becoming one with the city."

"Becoming one?" Lucy cocked her head to one side. She gripped her cup of tea in unease.

Belnika nodded as the boy who had saved her from the corrupt police force removed his mask and cloak to show his own marks. The most prominent marking that was visible to Lucy surrounded his right eye.

"You might say it's like an illness," he spoke in a monotone, as if he was plainly quoting facts from memory. "These marks grow all over the body. When it does—"

"—You become one of them," Belnika finished.

"One of them? What do you mean?" Lucy asked.

"Come with me," Belnika said, standing again. "I think it would be better if you see it with your own eyes." Together, she and the boy walked towards the door. Lucy followed them hesitatingly, unsure what Belnika meant or where she intended to lead them.

As the three passed through various rooms, Lucy noticed how some people wore masks while others sported the black markings on different parts of their bodies. She even saw a few quickly hide their blue-tinged hands.

These people contrasted from those who lived aboveground. While the blue-skinned people who inhabited the city acted like normal happily oblivious humans—disregarding the strange discrimination—down here, the people appeared to be shouldering some great burden. Their sorrow was evident even through their welcoming smiles directed at Lucy. It was as though they emphasized with Lucy, as they glanced surreptitiously at her marked hand. Lucy's own eyes lingered on her hand. _Just what on earth is this mark? Does it really hold such power over the people of this city?_

After passing many doors, Belnika stopped at one that seemed no different from the rest. "This room," she said, placing a hand on the door to support her body as she leaned on it, "well…it's not pleasant, but what you'll see here is the fate of those that stumble upon this city."

Lucy's stomach squirmed as she heard the groans and cries of pain that leaked through the door's cracks. Belnika opened the door and gestured for the blonde to enter. When she did, Lucy couldn't prevent the gasp that escaped her lips. Hands covering her mouth, she stared wide-eyed at the rows of beds—each occupied by someone who cried out in agony—complete with restraints as the patients squirmed and thrashed in attempt to relieve their discomfort. Horrorstruck, she realized the infirmary's occupants had a common "diagnosis".

Each person had marks similar to Belnika and the rest, however the patients seemed to be feeling the effects as the strange markings moved across their skin. From the patterns eked out swirls of blue that gradually overtook the natural pigments of their skin.

"Follow me." Hearing Belnika's voice snapped Lucy from her thoughts as she hesitantly followed the two to another room, feeling helpless as the sounds of pain continued to torment her even when she could no longer hear them.

The room Belnika led them to next was much smaller, and Lucy dully noted that the walls prevented any noise from neighboring rooms to be heard, even if she could still hear their echo in her own mind. Belnika sat cross-legged at a desk table, folding her arms across her chest, silently waiting for the shell-shocked blonde's reaction.

"What…" _What's going on? _Lucy wanted to ask. First, there was the strange mark that appeared on her wrist. Then, it grew as time went by, until it slowly spread across the entire body. Then this place, where people bore the same marks as the one spreading across her hand resided, was some kind of sanctuary.

"This is what happens to those who enter this city. Once you reach the same state as them…" Belnika's eyes glanced in the direction of the infirmary, before closing her eyes in defeat. "There's no going back. Rather than anything, there's no escaping this city's illness once you've entered it."

"But, aren't you okay? I mean, you guys seem to be doing well. The people in this underground place have lasted as much as the ones above, right? There's got to be a cure to this illness," Lucy insisted.

Belnika gave a self-deprecating laugh. "I wouldn't call this a cure. It's more of a temporary solution." Belnika removed a small vial of white liquid from her pocket. "It slows the process, but it doesn't cure anyone."

"But you saved me, right?" Lucy said, looking to the boy who still hadn't said a word. "I'm a new victim that you helped. If you've given up, then why did you bother rescuing me?" Lucy shook her head. "No, you haven't given up yet. Otherwise you wouldn't be telling me all this."

"Helping you avoid the tower was the boss's order," Belnika explained. "Hoping for a permanent cure…some people are too afraid to give up their only hope. The thought that they can become normal again—return to their homes and forget this ever happened—is the only thing that keeps them going."

_Return home?_Lucy wondered. The thought came to her that maybe these people could be the missing tourists and townsfolk. _Of course !_she berated herself for her forgetfulness. "That's right. There's something else I wanted to ask," she exclaimed. "From what you said earlier, does that mean no one used to live in this town? Or have they always been here?"

"Curious about their origin, eh?" Belnika said, a soft smile on her lips as the boy stared anxiously. "People who come to this town will forget. Forget truth, forget reality, and forget what happened to them and how they came to be here. From what I've gathered, this town came into existence the same time _that _group started kidnapping people. The same group responsible for your kidnapping."

"The mercenaries? Are they the same ones responsible for the missing people of Shimutse town?"

"Shimutse?" Belnika exchanged glances with the boy, feeling a sense of déjà vu at the town name.

"That's where I was before I was kidnapped. I…um…happened to be walking around this strangely deserted town when I got caught," Lucy stammered. _Well, I let myself be captured, but they don't need to know that, _she thought.

"Shimutse, eh…" Belnika murmured, ignoring Lucy's look of confusion. "That's right. I was there taking a vacation before landing in this hell," Belnika said to herself, as if she was remembering a long-forgotten dream.

"It was just one vacation," the boy finally spoke, "when things suddenly changed."

"I was just walking around, minding my own business, when someone attacked me from behind. When I woke up…" Belnika trailed off, "I was here and nothing was the same." Belnika was staring intently at something not present in the room before releasing a sigh. "Sorry, I didn't mean to get off-topic. I just remembered how I got into this mess. I guess, the same thing you experienced happened to me," she explained, confirming the blonde's theory.

"But does that mean you were being stupid since you were kidnapped?" the boy mumbled loud enough for Lucy to hear.

"I wasn't being stupid," Lucy objected. "You're one to talk. Didn't the same thing happen to you?"

"I'm a kid," he shrugged nonchalantly, as if that made all the difference.

"What I want to know is who hired those kidnappers," Lucy said. "Why would a dark guild need to abduct hundreds of innocent people to turn them into blue-skinned ignoramuses?" It was a rhetorical question, but Belnika and the boy stiffened when they heard her ask herself that.

"How do you know that?" the boy asked suspiciously. "Who are you?" The look on his face worried the blonde.

"I'm—" Lucy stopped as a handgun pointed at her, hearing the click as the boy removed the safety.

"Niebel! What are you doing?" Belnika shouted, alarmed when Niebel continued to point the gun at the young woman he had rescued only a couple hours before.

Lucy's throat felt tight as she managed to calmly say, "That's a dangerous thing you're holding. Could you put it away before someone gets hurt?" She wanted to take the pistol from his hands, but she warily noticed his twitching finger at the trigger.

"Stop it!" he hissed. "Belnika, you heard what this woman said. She knows something that she's not telling us! She's—"

"A victim like everyone else," Belnika broke in gently. "Put that gun down."

"But—Belnika! She might be _their _spy_!" _He now held the gun with both hands, steadily aiming at the blonde's torso.

"Why do you think that?" Belnika asked tensely. Lucy watched the exchange, nervous but unafraid.

"Is it really just coincidence? Look how easy it was to rescue her from the police squad, how calmly she's accepted the strangeness of this city, how she isn't freaking out despite knowing what we're turning into? She must be leading us on. Any second now, everyone…" he paused, panic and fear evident in the way his hands shook as he continued to wield the pistol.

Belnika looked at Lucy thoughtfully. Several seconds passed before–quick as lightning—she punched Niebel's stomach. Caught off guard, the boy reflexively dropped the gun as he doubled over from the powerful blow. Using a foot to slide the weapon away from the now unconscious boy, Belnika placed him gently in the chair she had been occupying. Lucy released a sigh of relief, causing the blue-haired woman to look at her as she held her hands to her chest and kept her eyes closed.

"I do apologize for that. I hope you didn't feel threatened too much," Belnika said as she used her palms on the table to support her weight.

"Mmm, no. I'm fine!" Lucy assured, brown eyes blinking open as she smiled.

"Everyone here has been on edge since, well…you know the situation we're all in, if what you said earlier is any indication," Belnika mused. "Once the mark completely takes over someone's body, that person experiences something like a rebirth. He loses who he used to be, his past, his present—everything that defines him—and becomes…"

_Becomes one of them__, Lucy thought, recalling the conversation from earlier__. _"Then this place and you people...you form some kind of resistance group in this town?" Lucy guessed.

"If only things were that simple," Belnika sighed. "At first, we were hopeful of finding an escape, working together to find a permanent cure. But then…after what happened a few months ago, we realized it's too late. Now we're simply waiting for the inevitable. Though I have to admit, what you said earlier really does seem suspicious," Belnika said, changing topics.

Dark guild…kidnappers.

"While Niebel overreacted, his doubts have some merit. Your actions do not coincide with those of every other victim. Never panicked, never showed signs of disorientation. You behaved as if something unexpected wasn't out of the norm. At every single turn, you have been irrationally calm," Belnika commented, moving a step forward every few words, forcing Lucy to back up from the accusatory glare of the other woman. Lucy squeaked as she found herself trapped between the steely-eyed woman and the door they had entered through.

Placing a hand against the door on either side of Lucy's head, Belnika demanded, "Who are you? You aren't really a victim like you want us to think. Rather, you seem like—" she paused, studying the blonde seriously, "—a spy. Or like you knew exactly what you were getting yourself into."

Lucy tried to avoid Belnika's inquisitive stare. Her throat constricted as she tried to speak. "That…" she began, exhaling slowly as Belnika urged her to continue. Lucy wished the woman wasn't invading her personal space so much as she said, "…depends on if you people are who I think you are, and if you can take me to him."

She could have told Belnika that she was a mage, here to help free them from their situation. But she had realized that these people who had already given up hope wouldn't believe her. Their fragile state of mind would prevent them from accepting Lucy's word alone. She'd just have to be careful about what she said, and prove it to them through her actions.

Belnika's eyes narrowed as she scrutinized Lucy, taking several seconds to size up the girl. Lucy looked back nervously, hoping the young woman would take the bait.

To Lucy's surprise, Belnika suddenly moved back a couple of inches, shaking with barely controlled laughter. She had to place her hands on her stomach as she began to laugh heartily. Just when Lucy believed the girl had finally lost her senses, the blue-haired managed to say between bursts of laughter, "You're really something, aren't you?" Lucy's brows knitted together in confusion. "This is the first time I've met someone like you," Belnika said once she reigned in her laughter, wiping excess tears from her eyes as she looked at the pouting blonde.

"I'm serious," Lucy insisted.

"You do know where you are, don't you? Do you realize the situation you are in, little girl?" Belnika asked, arms folded across her chest.

"I know enough, judging by you and this place," Lucy huffed. "And I resent being called a little girl."

"Then you realize this place and its occupants are armed left and right. We didn't exactly rescue you, you know," Belnika confided.

"Frankly, I don't care who you people are," Lucy retorted. "I'm only interested in one thing, and your situation is part of it. I know you'd rather not hear anything about it…" Lucy paused, looking at Belnika as she recalled how the woman reacted when she voiced her opinion about their situation. Seeing the markings that covered Belnika's skin, she continued, "I know your predicament is being controlled by the dark guild known as the Death Reapers."

Suddenly, Lucy could barely squeak as Belnika used a hand to grasp her throat. The humor disappeared from Belnika's eyes as she asked, "Who are you really?" Lucy could only wheeze in response as the hand that held her down didn't ease in pressure.

Belnika glanced at Niebel still unconscious in the chair. " Could it be?" Belnika mused, biting her thumbnail. Several seconds seemed to last much longer before she let go of Lucy, who immediately massaged her abused neck. This didn't last long as Belnika grabbed Lucy's arm and opened the door at the same time. Seeing Lucy's bewildered expression, Belnika said, "We're meeting the boss."

"W-what about Niebel?" Lucy glanced back at the room where Niebel remained, but the blue-haired girl continued to pull her toward a new destination.

"He'l be fine," she reassured. Lucy just gazed at Belnika, silently conceding while her mind ferociously worked out what had caused Belnika's sudden change and what it could lead to.

They walked fast, practically sprinting past the same doors and people Lucy had first seen. Belnika paused before a new door, as if torn between knocking or barging straight in. Deciding to go with the latter, Belnika yanked Lucy after her. The room was empty save for a masked woman seated at the only desk, wearing a knowing smile. Either a person invading her office was a common occurrence or she had expected for this to happen.

"Finally figured it out?" she guessed.

Belnika said nothing as she closed the door and made her way to stand directly before the smiling woman. Lucy was startled as Belnika slapped her hands against the table, crying out, "I'm against it!"

"Against what?" the woman responded enigmatically.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Belnika snapped.

"I'm afraid I really have no idea," the boss woman sang lightly.

"Don't mess with me!" Belnika shouted. "You know what happened last time."

"Are you referring to our cute little guest?" she remarked, smiling at Lucy while ignoring the heated gaze of Belnika's blue eyes. Lucy wordlessly looked on.

Belnika gave an annoyed sigh. In a small voice, she argued, "How many people have already tried? How many of them were unable to do something? And you think this…little girl will be able to do what no else could!" Lucy wrinkled her nose in distaste at the less than hospitable description.

"I would be careful of what I say if I were you Belnika," the masked woman reprimanded, studying Lucy with an interested eye.

"Don't be ridiculous! You're an incredible woman, a fact you're well aware of. That's why we've followed you all this time, but this is…this is—" Belnika glanced at Lucy as if to dare her to prove otherwise, "—ridiculous! That girl couldn't possibly do anything to help us."

"I'm right here, you know," Lucy muttered indignantly, peeved that the two women continued to ignore her.

The leader of the rebels just smiled bigger, which seemed to rile up Belnika even more. Standing up, she removed her cloak—revealing a voluptuous woman fitted in an elegant emerald cheongsam. Glossy black hair was held up in a loop at each side of her head, with the braided ends hanging loosely. She had the air of a refined, intelligent woman who never revealed her secrets. But like everyone else, the same black marks covered her body, though in Lucy's opinion it seemed to enhance her ethereal beauty.

She pulled a Chinese fan seemingly out of nowhere. "But this girl isn't just anyone, Belnika." Opening the fan to cover the lower part of her face, she slowly approached Lucy. "This girl is a mage. From Fairy Tail, no less."

Belnika's eyes widened. "That's…impossible. After all our attempts, even if the Magic Council itself came, they wouldn't be able to put an end to this. What makes you think she will be any different?" she protested.

"You underestimate the strength and determination of a Fairy Tail mage. I have faith that if it's Fairy Tail, then this town's problems will come to an end." the older woman persuaded, glancing at the blue-haired girl out of the corner of her eyes. Turning her full attention back to Lucy, she said, "We've been expecting to hear from your guild, but I'm surprised they didn't send Titania as I requested."

"Oh, Erza's here. I'm sorry I can't give you the details though. Just know that we have a plan," Lucy assured, a slight quirk gracing her lips. "And you are the client?"

The woman in charge nodded. "I sent the request years ago. I must confess, I'm intrigued how you allowed yourself to be caught and made into a victim while your mage status remained unnoticed."

"That was Erza's part of the plan," Lucy said breezily.

"So this was all planned?" Belnika marveled, remembering the townspeople's reaction to this new arrival, how fearless and strong she seemed. When Lucy nodded, Belnika couldn't resist saying, "That sounds absolutely insane, and so unbelievably awesome at the same time." Did this young blonde woman understand beforehand that she risked becoming like the rest of the town's occupants? Wasn't she scared that she would be discovered by the enemy? Even so, she was extremely lucky to not have been found out, or she wouldn't be talking to them right now.

"It's not that surprising considering Fairy Tail's reputation for accomplishing the impossible," the boss lady conceded, fanning her face. "But I must admit, this isn't the usual way Fairy Tail goes about things. Then again, maybe I should have expected it."

"I couldn't be sure how everything would turn out. It was luck more than anything else that you guys found me. Erza might have had an idea, but she didn't mention anything to me," Lucy added.

"Well, enough chitchat," the woman said abruptly, closing her fan with an audible snap. "I'm sure there are things you need to know before we start?"

Lucy's eyes widened slightly at the brusque change of topic, but she gave a nod, saying, "I have a gist, but I need to confirm a few things about this town and its purpose."

"That's what Titania asked you to do, Fairy Tail mage?" the leader asked.

"Not exactly. But for starters, I'm Lucy," she introduced herself. "Lucy of Fairy Tail."

"I'm this town's former mayor and the current leader of this resistance. But you can call me Minerva," she said, shaking hands with the blonde mage of Fairy Tail.

Belnika looked between the two. A part of her couldn't help feel a bit of hope at what this exchange meant. But another part doubted any good would come of this. _What dreadful situation is going to happen now?_

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Belnika couldn't help but shake her head at the baffling scene before her. Beside her, Minerva wore her infuriating smile, as if she was satisfied with everything that had happened. They were hiding in an alley, watching the panicked people running as if they were being chased by walking corpses while various police squads attempted to calm what was quickly turning into an uncontrollable mob.

"I didn't give her enough credit," Belnika whispered. "To think she caused this much of an uproar in such a short amount of time." She shook her head once more in disbelief as she observed several newly damaged buildings emitting smoke from various places—courtesy of the resistance group to give the blonde mage her needed distraction.

Minerva gave a satisfied nod before turning in the direction of a comrade's home which served as a temporary base. Knowing she was expected to follow, Belnika paused, eyes straying to the ominous tower at the center of this messed up city. It was useless, really, to expect anything to come out of that girl's efforts. Nevertheless, Belnika found herself following the mage using a widely unknown route. She wasn't worried about the girl's safety, she kept telling herself. She just wanted to see what this girl was capable of. What made her believe so strongly when Belnika herself refused to harbor any hope.

Minerva smirked slightly when she noticed her director of medical research had disappeared from sight. Things are about to change in this town where the real people are hidden within themselves, Minerva thought with conviction. Soon, they will finally awake.

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"You think Lucy will be okay on her own?" Gray asked as they floundered through the forest. After misplacing his favorite purple polo shirt three times during this hike, Erza had forcefully tied the shirt around his waist in hopes that it would stay put.

"She'll be fine as long as everything goes as planned," Erza answered, eyes never straying from the path in front of them.

"Speaking of our plan, don't you think it's weird we sent Lucy undercover? We've never done that before. I much prefer our usual style," Gray insisted. His definition of "usual style" of course meant barging in and demanding information from the poor soul who was spotted first. Instead, they had to quietly trail Lucy and her captors. Boooooring.

Erza disagreed. "This is an S-class mission that has gone unsolved for five years. Under these circumstances, going undercover isn't out of the norm."

"I still don't see why it was necessary," Gray maintained. A suspicious look came across his face as he asked, "Did you get the idea from that action movie you've been obsessed with recently?"

Erza remained silent for several moments before commenting lightly, "Lucy has more decorum than the wild men of Fairy Tail. Unlike you, she doesn't have a penchant for mayhem and destruction in order to complete a mission." Gray gave a nervous smile as the scarlet-haired mage had completely ignored his question, proof that he had hit the reason spot on.

Poor Lucy.

Unexpectedly, Erza hauled Gray behind the trunk of a large tree. When the ice mage had stopped protesting the sudden assault, he could clearly hear the crunch of leaves as someone walked through the forest. Without a sound, Erza and Gray listened to the conversation that every few words set them even more on edge.

"The plan will soon be complete."

"I heard some newbie riled up the resistance enough to come out of hiding. Now they're being chased by _them." _

"I heard that too. Apparently they caused some kind of stampede."

Erza's vice-like hold on Gray became tighter at every passing second.

"Really? Hard to imagine considering how that place has been kept neatly for so long."

"Yeah. Seems like someone managed to stir up some additional trouble during the rebels' attempt."

"You would think after what happened last time they would have known better."

"I thought so too. But supposedly a mage got themselves caught by one of the scouting parties and used that to infiltrate the city."

"Well, with Master Zoldeo's plan at fruition after five long years, it doesn't make a difference, right?"

"I guess so." The voices faded out as the two men walked out of the Fairy Tail mages' hearing range.

"So…correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I just heard Lucy created some mayhem and destruction," Gray snorted. Lucy—the one who always criticized her teammates for the mess they would unintentionally leave in their wake as they performed a job—had purposely wreaked havoc.

Erza remained unresponsive as she began to walk in the direction of the two men.

"Oi!" Gray called, annoyed at being ignored as he ran to catch up to the requip mage.

"Things are spiraling out of control faster than I anticipated. We must hurry," Erza explained cryptically.

"What? Where are we going?" Gray demanded, trying to match his teammate's brisk pace.

"To that place," she answered vaguely.

Gray gave up trying to get a straight answer from Titania of Fairy Tail. Sooner or later, the situation would be explained, so he wouldn't press the issue. He just hoped Lucy wasn't in any trouble.

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Lucy had begun to regret her decision after making her way through the panicked crowds. If their shouts of terror and tendency to elbow their neighbors in order to save themselves hadn't been bad enough, the town security failing to control the masses made everything worse and much more chaotic. Lucy was just thankful that none of the officers seemed to notice her as she focused her sights on her final destination—the brilliantly lit tower at the city's center. When she was several hundred meters away, she noticed how the top of the tower actually seemed to touch the hole at the domed roof.

Lucy reached the tower without incident. Mentally giving herself a pat on the back, she studied the overwhelming structure before her. Several dozen stories of black marble rose ominously into the inky sky, slightly reflecting the light from within its windows. Surrounding the grounds of the building was a wall of thick iron about two and a half meters high. The obstacle would pose no problem for the mage, even without magic. Using a small boulder conveniently situated next to the wall, Lucy jumped, hands grasping the top of the wall. Pulling herself up and over, she landed with a soft thud before looking at her surroundings. She immediately gave an awkward smile.

"Oh. Hey there," Lucy waved nonchalantly to the soldiers lined up in formation, their rifles threatening that they were prepared to shoot at a command.

The man who stood in the middle of the first row smirked. "How lucky I got to greet our lovely intruder."

Lucy was caught off guard. She was sure the rebels had caused enough disorder to distract all security personnel, giving her the necessary cover. So then how did they know her plan?

As though he could read her thoughts, the man's smile grew. "We anticipated the rebels would try something like this. I admit, I never expected they could pull it off in a few hours' time. Unfortunately, this plan was set to fail from the start. Well, unfortunate for you, _mage of Fairy Tail_."

She couldn't stop her eyes from widening._They knew? Had they known all along?_

"We've always been prepared for a mage to try to interfere with Master Zoldeo's plan," the commander informed the flustered blonde. "But even if that hadn't been the case, your capture was inevitable."

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked sharply.

Using a hand to gesture toward the celestial spirit mage, the man continued to smile darkly as a soldier moved forward to apprehend her. Instinctively, Lucy moved her hand to the belt she had adorned shortly before the plan had been set in motion. The man tsked. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, mage." A resounding chorus of gun safeties being removed echoed through the courtyard as dozens of barrels were directed at her. "Even if on the slight chance you could fight against us with your magic, it's already too late for you."

He pointed to the mark that had by now completely covered her arm, spreading faster than ever as a blue hue became abundantly clear. All of a sudden, Lucy felt the unbearable pain and couldn't prevent a hiss from escaping her lips. Glaring maliciously, the man taunted, "Bet you didn't know that the marks grow even faster on mages. Something to do with the inherent magic in your blood that enhances the properties of the curse magic." He shrugged, ignoring the fierce look in the brown eyes of the mage as she gripped her marked arm—as if that would stop it from spreading.

Allowing herself to be bounded—there should be a limit to how many times a girl should be subject to such harsh treatment, she thought—Lucy made no resistance as she was shoved towards the tower's entrance.

"Time's running out, little girl. Soon, the rebels will be caught. If anything, you actually helped to hasten the process. Congratulations. How does it feel to be responsible for this city's imminent destruction?" As she was led past him, he whispered, "To think a traitor among your precious rebel friends is the reason you were caught." Lucy's eyes widened, but she did nothing as she was forced to walk between the soldiers who served to prevent any escape.

Beyond the wall, a reticent boy stood, the familiar marks on his arms contrasting starkly against his pale white skin. From the hood shadowing his face, he mumbled, "It's better this way. Fighting against it is useless. No one can stop what's to come."

"Niebel?"

Hidden behind an abandoned car, Belnika gazed despairingly at the boy who had sealed their fate.

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End of Chapter Six

AN: As for the next chapter, I'm not sure when I'll update. Hopefully, while School isn't that much of a pressure yet, I'll be able to write the chapter. If not, expect me to write it during Christmas break. I do hope you enjoyed the chapter. The next chapter should prove to be interesting.


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